The Discovery: Prisoner of Azkaban
by bookworm1256
Summary: Third part in the Discovery Serries: The next Generation finds out the truth about Harry's third year. But will the truth be what they want to hear?
1. Owl Post

**Disclaimer: All recognized text, characters, ideas, and… well, if you recognize it at all, chances are it's not ours. **

**A/N: Hello again to all our wonderful readers! You make this story, you really do! Can you tell we're a little excited for starting the third book? It's one of our favorites! Now the only problem we've run into is that we think the kids would actually know a lot more about this than they would about all the others. I think Harry would talk about the Marauders to all of them. But This isn't the sugar-coated version, so it should still be interesting, yeah? Also, we'd like to say right now that we ADORE sirius... most of the time. :D We really do love him, but, let's face it, he's an interesting character who will get interesting results. Okay, let's get started then, shall we?**

Chapter One

Owl Post

It was not a peaceful night.

If Lily had thought her nightmares of Voldemort from the first book were bad, it was nothing to that night's round. When she closed her eyes, she was in the Chamber of Secrets, scarlet ink pooled around her like blood, something heavy slithering towards her, and far away above her head, soft, poisonous laughter…. Lily woke from a dream like this twice in a cold sweat, convinced the next thing she would see was a looming shadow in the dark.

But in the third dream, she was not the only one frozen on the floor. She was watching helplessly as a girl she knew had to be her eleven-year-old mother sobbed and struggled beside her, desperately calling out for help that Lily could not seem to move to give. There was that high, poisonous laughter again and a dark-haired boy knelt between them, bent low over her mother's terrified face and whispered to her, "you are mine… you are mine… and you know it's your own fault…."

He ran a long, thin finger along her face. Then he made a terrible hissing sound and the slithering rushed at them. Lily saw huge yellow eyes, a mouth of saber-like teeth, and heard a terrible scream from the girl beside her as the teeth plunged down –

Lily jerked awake with a small sob.

XX

Hugo was running. He was running as fast as he could down long, twisting stone passageways, but the scuttling and clicking behind him was only getting closer. As he skidded round a corner, he caught a glimpse of long, hairy legs reaching into the corridor behind him. Panicked, he tried to run faster.

As he glanced over his shoulder again, Hugo tripped headlong over something on the floor. When he scrambled around to see what it was, his mouth dropped open in horror. Rose lay across the stone floor, still as a statue, eyes staring blankly.

"No!" Hugo shouted, shaking his sister, trying to make her move, but she rattled on the floor as if she were made of stone, petrified.

That was when he saw Lily up at the end of the corridor. He shouted for help, but Lily didn't seem to hear. She was stroking the wall…. No, she was daubing something red on the wall…. Words. And Hugo did not need to read them to know what they said.

"Lily!" he screamed.

She turned and red was dripping down her front, staining her hands like blood. She was clutching a small black book. There was a door next to the stretch of wall she'd been writing on. Their eyes flicked towards it at the same time, and as Lily took a slow step towards the door, Hugo started to run again. He knew he would never make it. Even as he yelled and begged her not to go in, Lily pulled open the door.

Hugo saw huge yellow eyes, heard a high-pitched laugh –

Then he was awake.

XX

But Hugo and Lily were not the only ones woken by nightmares. In twos and threes, Rose and Lily, James, Fred, and Hugo, and Albus and Scorpius crept down the Burrow's creaky staircase, quilts draped over their shoulders and pillows hugged to their chests. Like moths to a candle flame, the slowly dying fire in the sitting room drew them towards the promise of light and heat to chase away the pressing darkness.

And so when Teddy stumbled out of the fireplace very early the next morning, he found seven sleeping children where he expected an empty floor.

Scorpius was curled up on the sofa, but the rest were heaped together like puppies, exactly like they used to sometimes sleep when they were small. Arms were thrown across faces, knees in guts, the group was a tangle of limbs and blankets.

Teddy grinned to himself as he carefully stepped around James, trying not to step _on _him or lose his balance.

James had recently hit the phase where he considered himself to be 'all grown up', a thirteen-year-old who knew everything there was to know about the world and _far _wiser than his still-eleven-year-old little brother. But it was remarkable how much he resembled his five-year-old self when he slept, Teddy thought. He was twisted in every direction, and Teddy wondered, as he had when James was five, how in the world he managed to sleep like that. But what really made him smirk was the way James had an arm flung over Al, who was curled into a ball next to him. It had been that way when they were little, too, proof of the existence of a brotherly instinct James denied with every step when he was awake.

As per the plan, Teddy slipped into the kitchen, feeling distinctly like a robber in Molly Weasley's domain as he began looking through cupboards. The sun had just begun to creep over the horizon, filling the room with a quiet, dusty sort of morning glow. It was much earlier than Teddy would have preferred to be awake on one of his precious days off, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make to get every detail about Harry's third year.

When he had found the components for sandwiches and hunted up an old wicker basket from the scullery, Teddy reluctantly returned to the living room to ruin the peaceful little picture. It made him feel old to miss when these kids had been little enough to still believe in Father Christmas and would fall asleep like this waiting for him to come down the chimney on Christmas Eve.

An idea occurring to him, Teddy pulled open the cabinet behind the sofa and rummaged around as quietly as he could until he found the old camera Molly and Arthur must have had since Bill was a baby. He checked that there was usable film in it and then squinted through the tiny glass window to find his shot and captured it with a blinding flash, a few sputtering pops and a plume of purplish smoke.

James sat bold-upright along with half the group, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Then he spotted Teddy with the camera, and groaned internally at Teddy's grin.

"The little darlings are finally awake," Teddy teased, putting the camera back on its shelf.

"What'd you do, Teddy?" James demanded, scrubbing his hands over his face, trying to find evidence of a mustache or blue polka dots.

"Nothing at all," Teddy assured him. "Now come on before the whole house wakes up and ruins our escape."

After everyone had gotten dressed (taking great care not to squeak to much up and down the stairs) and made a sandwich for later (James and Fred, unsatisfied with the array of meat, cheese, and vegetables Teddy had laid out, broke out the licorice wands and mayonnaise), and Teddy had written a note to Mrs. Weasley explaining that he had kidnapped all her willing grandchildren to go swimming and that they would be back in time for supper, the eight of them slipped out the back door.

They had agreed last night, not just those reading the books, but all those involved in covering, that if they stayed around the Burrow another day, they would be caught for sure. After the end of the last book, Rose had suggested maybe taking a break, throw off suspicion. But the problem was that Scorpius had to go home in just a day or two and Teddy's break was almost over.

Scorpius had said he didn't mind if they read without him. It might even be better since he felt like he shouldn't be privy to Harry's thoughts, and it wasn't as if he liked much of what he was learning about his dad. But Rose and Albus were adamant; Scorpius was a part of this now and if he ever wanted to figure out his father, he had to be around for everything. He had a suspicion they just didn't want to make him feel left out again.

And of course, Teddy didn't want to wait to read the next book. If they didn't start it now, it could be weeks before he got any time off to read.

So their brilliant scheme of going on a picnic had been born. The beauty was that Molly hated swimming. She never wanted to come with them, so as long as they made it out of the house before she could suddenly decide to tag along, they would be set for the day.

It was a long walk along the river. They stopped in the village to get donuts from the bakery that had just opened and the hot sticky pastries made the trek much more enjoyable. The River Otter wound its way past the village and through the surrounding farmland, lazily meandering past fields of staring cows and big red barns. By the time they reached a point along its banks that was well hidden by trees and far from any prying eyes, the sun had risen properly.

James through himself down in the shade of a knotted tree and announced that he was not moving for a century.

"How come we couldn't go where we usually go swimming?" Hugo asked, sinking down to the grass tiredly.

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "How long do you think it will take Molly to check there? Lucy says she set on blowing it for us."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess," Hugo muttered, turning a bit pink.

Albus and Scorpius were standing by the river.

"It's fast," Scorpius observed, peering nervously over the edge of the little outcropping of rock they were on.

Albus dropped a leaf into the water and watched it tumble away in the current.

"Not really. Not if you don't go out in the middle."

"You swim in that?" Scorpius asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"Sure," Albus shrugged. "We've been coming out here since we were little kids. Whenever Gran needs a break in the summer, she sends us out to the river."

"But what if you drown!" Scorpius demanded.

"We won't drown," Albus said, rolling his eyes. "Teddy and Vic are always with us, or one of our uncles or aunts."

He glanced sideways at his friend, an incredulous thought occurring to him as he saw Scorpius's gray eyes watching the swift water warily.

"You _do _know how to swim, don't you?"

"Of course," Scorpius said quickly. Too quickly.

Albus opened his mouth, but at that moment Teddy called them over to the blanket so that they could get reading. Scorpius turned and hurried back at once, leaving Albus to wonder.

Teddy looked almost as excitable as Colin Creevey as Rose reached into her bag and drew out the third book.

"Ted, you know you probably already know half this book already?" Albus pointed out, looking at Teddy, who had ended up sitting next to him today, in bemusement.

Teddy shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah, I know. But it's kind of like the end of _The Fountain of Fair Fortune_ to me_. _You know, how you used to make me read that to you again and again, until I didn't even have to look at the book to know the words. It doesn't matter that I already know what will happen, I still want to hear every detail."

"Al, you were such a girl when we were little," James told his brother. "I mean, how was that witch getting cured and the luckless knight professing his love better than a warty hopping pot?"

Albus flushed and Scorpius said hastily, "How come you're so excited for this book, Teddy?"

Teddy's grin widened as he answered. "Because this is the year Harry met my dad. I'll read first, if no one minds, Rosie." Teddy added, reaching to take the book.

"But you read the last chapter," Rose pointed out, but she handed him the book anyway.

"It looks a lot longer than the last one," Fred said suspiciously, eyeing the thick book Teddy was holding almost reverently. "I think this is a trap. They'll get longer and longer, roping us into spending our entire life reading like Rose."

The extra length didn't bother Teddy one bit, though. In fact, it made him giddy. All the more words that might include his dad.

"This book's called _The Prisoner of Azkaban_," Teddy told them, showing them the front of the book.

"Do they mean, like, Hagrid?" Lily asked, thinking of the brief period Hagrid had spent in Azkaban at the end of the last book (and feeling a surge of anger at Cornelius Fudge).

"No," Teddy told her, smiling.

"They mean Sirius, probably," James grinned. "He was an escaped prisoner."

"Aren't you named after someone called Sirius?" Scorpius asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yup," James beamed proudly. "Dad told me all about him. He was Dad's godfather and he helped make the Marauders' Map. He spent a bunch of time in prison after the first war, but he escaped Azkaban when Dad was in school."

"Why was he in Azkaban?" Scorpius asked suspiciously.

James shrugged. "I dunno. But it doesn't matter 'cause he was innocent. He was framed."

"Well, that's what Harry says," Rose said skeptically.

James's grin turned into a glower as he looked over at Rose. "Don't start that again, Rose."

"What?" Scorpius asked, feeling like he was very out of the loop and being quickly left behind.

"Well, he was never cleared of all charges," Rose explained.

"Dad says he's innocent!" James snapped.

"I looked up his records," Rose said with a superior sort of tone, ignoring James. "The courts never cleared him."

"That's because the Ministry is stupid," James said angrily. "There's a big piece in the _Prophet _about how he was innocent. Dad's got it in his wardrobe. He showed me."

"You know your dad had to pull strings to get that published," Rose countered. "They couldn't get enough evidence to clear him in court. Therefore, he's still considered a convicted criminal."

"Because _Fudge_ was running things!" James exploded. "He sent _Hagrid _to Azkaban just to look good! And by the time Kingsley took over, everyone who could have testified was dead except Dad."

"So how come Harry and Kingsley, not to mention my parents, who all have very high standing in the Ministry now, can't wipe the charges? They all know the story."

Rose was using that voice that sounded so much like her mother when she was in court. That voice drove James crazy.

"_Dad _told me Sirius was innocent!" James repeated furiously.

"Your dad also thought the world of Sirius, which is one of the reasons the court won't use his word. He's too close to see things clearly."

James gaped at her, oblivious to the rest watching their argument with curiosity. Albus, Hugo, and Lily had heard variations of it before, but it had always interested them. Their parents always seemed to speak only in rosied tones of the people who had died in the war. Faults and mistakes never seemed to come up when they asked about people. When they were small it had been enough to idolize their namesakes, but more recently (when Rose had discovered Sirius's records) they had begun to wonder just how glossed-over the answers to their questions had been.

"But you're parents have told you Sirius is innocent too!" James finally burst out. "And you're mum's not exactly Sirius's number-one fan, is she?"

"Well, she's not likely to say anything bad about Sirius in front of your dad, is she?" Rose shot back. "Mum told me they couldn't clear Sirius because they couldn't get enough evidence in court. Maybe Sirius didn't deserve the sentence he got, but that doesn't mean he was as wonderful as you've built him up to be."

"Wasn't he innocent, Teddy?" James demanded, turning away from Rose.

Teddy hesitated. Harry had always told him how great Sirius was. But according to his godfather's own story, he had only known Sirius for two or three years before he died. And most of that time, Harry had been in school, not with his godfather. It had made Teddy wonder how well Harry had really known him at all. And Teddy certainly could understand how Harry might have a slightly skewed picture of Sirius. Teddy often had built Harry up to be near-superhuman in his mind, especially when he was younger. Harry had still been a teenager when Sirius had died, not old enough really to see things clearly…

"Yeah, Rosie, I think James is right on this one," he said finally. "I don't see Harry deluding himself enough to say Sirius was innocent when he wasn't, and your parents and even Kingsley agree."

Rose crossed her arms. "How come we haven't heard the whole story, then?"

She liked facts, information. That was how she made decisions. Opinions and points of view were shifty and unreliable. Facts were solid and true. And in this instance, facts were making her question what she had been told about Sirius Black.

James had already opened his mouth to let loose an angry retort when Albus said quietly, "Maybe because we never have the guts to ask."

James looked at his little brother as if he had just dropped out of the sky. "Dad tells us loads about – you know, everybody who died. I'm not afraid to ask."

"Of course you are, James. That's why we're reading this. We ask some things, but by the time they're done explaining the basics, everyone always looks so sad and miserable we all just take our little bit of knowledge and get out of there before they start crying or shattering or something. We all do it, even you and Rose. This is the only way to get the whole story. All the facts," Albus added, looking straight at Rose.

Teddy nodded. "It's a good point," he conceded. "But we'll never know all the facts unless we get going."

And effectively ending Rose and James's argument, Teddy opened the book and found the first chapter.

**Chapter One**

**Owl Post**

"Well, things are looking up already," Hugo said, hoping to brighten the mood. James and Rose were still scowling at each other. "No mad elves are stopping Harry's mail this year. That ought to make things better."

Teddy felt his excitement temporarily dampened slightly as he realized that they would, once again, have to read about Harry's time at the Dursleys. His father would not come into the story for at least a couple of chapters. And he almost dreaded hearing more about Harry's aunt and Uncle. For all that Harry had told him about moving on, none of it had assuaged his fears of what had already happened to his godfather in side that house.

Teddy started to read, hoping Hugo was right and the owl post was a good omen.

**Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. **

"You know, these books have really helped me see how _normal _Uncle Harry really is underneath it all," said Fred.

**For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. **

"Well, you can't blame him for that, considering where he has to spend them," James muttered, scowling at both the Dursleys and Rose's jibes on his namesake.

**For another, he really wanted to do his homework**

"Now that worries me," Fred said with mock concern.

**but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. **

"That might make it a little more entertaining," James said thoughtfully.

**And he also happened to be a wizard.**

"What!" Fred gasped, clapping a hand to his mouth.

"No. Way," James breathed, wide-eyed.

"Spoiler alert," Fred said, holding up his hands.

Teddy kept reading, feeling that at this rate, they would never reach the point that his father was introduced.

**It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his stomach in bed, the blankets drawn right over his head like a tent, a flashlight in one hand and a large leather-bound book **_**(A History of Magic **_**by Bathilda Bagshot) propped open against the pillow. Harry moved the tip of his eagle-feather quill down the page, frowning as he looked for something that would help him write his essay, "Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless — discuss."**

James groaned. "We've got to do that essay this summer, too."

"Maybe we can copy off your dad," Fred said brightly. "Honestly, does Binns even read those essays? He's a ghost. He can't even open the scroll!"

**The quill paused at the top of a likely-looking paragraph. Harry pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, moved his flashlight closer to the book, and read:**

_**Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty seven times in various disguises.**_

"Is that true?" Lily asked, giggling a little.

"Straight out of the textbook," Rose informed her (having read that textbook several times).

"Then how come people hated Muggles so much?" Hugo asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "If Muggles couldn't even do anything to them, why were they so prejudiced?"

"It wasn't always like that," Rose explained patiently. "Like Sir Nick. You know how he died? He was wizard in the Royal Court, and they found out and took his wand away, so he couldn't get out of his execution. That happened a lot more than people like to talk about. And then there were the little kids who couldn't control their magic and got caught a lot in Witch hunts too."

"Thanks for the history lesson, Rose," James drawled. "But can we get back to something remotely interesting and useful?"

"This is a history lesson, too, technically speaking," Rose pointed out.

James made a face at her as Teddy kept reading.

**Harry put his quill between his teeth and reached underneath his pillow for his ink bottle and a roll of parchment. Slowly and very carefully he unscrewed the ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, and began to write, pausing every now and then to listen, because if any of the Dursleys heard the scratching of his quill on their way to the bathroom, he'd probably find himself locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the rest of the summer.**

Teddy's grip tightened on the book and dark, angry looks crossed everyone else's faces. But no one commented and Teddy hurried past this part.

**The Dursley family of number four, Privet Drive, was the reason that Harry never enjoyed his summer holidays. **

They had all known this already of course, but the reminder brought more scowls.

**Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son, Dudley, were Harry's only living relatives. **

"What happened to all Dad's grandparents?" Lily asked suddenly.

"I dunno," Albus shrugged. "Dad doesn't even know. He doesn't know their names even to look."

"You'd think he'd be able to find it somewhere," Scorpius said thoughtfully. "There's got to be family trees and records and stuff in the ministry at least."

"A lot of it got ransacked during the wars," Teddy said sadly. "By both Death Eaters and Muggle-borns. Death Eaters who were covering up their half-blood status and Muggle-Borns who were just trying to save themselves. Almost all the data got burned or destroyed some other way. I've looked for my dad's family, too. For all I know, I've got grandparents and aunts and uncles out there I don't even know about."

"But wouldn't they know about you?" Scorpius asked, feeling brave that he could ask such direct questions to Teddy now.

"Not necessarily," Teddy sighed. "My parents weren't exactly broadcasting my existence when I was born. It was dangerous then."

"But wouldn't McGonagall know?" Lily asked. "About both yours and Dad's families? She taught Granddad and your dad."

"Yeah, but that was nearly fifty years ago, just a couple of students in her long career. Parents' names aren't all that memorable when you've got hundreds of them to recall. All she could tell me was that my dad didn't have a sibling that went to Hogwarts while she was teaching."

"Well…. That sucks," Scorpius said a bit lamely. He couldn't think of any other suggestions to make.

Teddy shrugged. "Can't miss what you never had."

**They were Muggles, and they had a very medieval attitude toward magic. Harry's dead parents, **

The Potters all flinched at the comment, how off-hand it seemed.

**who had been a witch and wizard themselves, were never mentioned under the Dursleys' roof. For years, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had hoped that if they kept Harry as downtrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic out of him. **

"Do we have to read all this again?" James asked, starting to feel downright miserable again, what with the reminders of his grandparents' murders and his father's terrible childhood.

"It's over," Teddy told him before picking up where he had left off.

**To their fury, they had been unsuccessful.**

"Of course they were," Lily sniffed, gaining only mild satisfaction from this fact, since the Dursleys had tried at all.

**These days they lived in terror of anyone finding out that Harry had spent most of the last two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The most they could do, however, was to lock away Harry's spellbooks, wand, cauldron, and broomstick at the start of the summer break, and forbid him to talk to the neighbors.**

"Oh no, whatever will he do without rude, snobbish people to talk to?" Fred asked in a monotone.

**This separation from his spellbooks had been a real problem for Harry, because his teachers at Hogwarts had given him a lot of holiday work. One of the essays, a particularly nasty one about shrinking potions, was for Harry's least favorite teacher, Professor Snape, **

Fred and James, demonstrating their great maturity, booed loudly at Snape's name.

**who would be delighted to have an excuse to give Harry detention for a month. **

"That wouldn't be fair," Rose huffed. "If he didn't have his books, he couldn't _do _the assignment."

"Since when did you start expecting Snape to be fair?" Scorpius asked.

**Harry had therefore seized his chance in the first week of the holidays. While Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley had gone out into the front garden to admire Uncle Vernon's new company car (in very loud voices, so that the rest of the street would notice it too), **

"Tsh, that car's got nothing on Agnes," Fred said smugly.

"Er, who?" Hugo asked.

Fred looked scandalized. "The Flying Ford Anglia!"

"You named it?"

"It saved my uncles' lives! Of course I named it. How could you not even know the name of your favorite flying car?"

Hugo sighed. What had he gotten into?

**Harry had crept downstairs, picked the lock on the cupboard under the stairs, grabbed some of his books, and hidden them in his bedroom.**

"Yes. Now that's what I'm talking about," James said approvingly. "Don't take the Dursleys' crap lying down. Learn to pick locks. Very useful."

James wasn't the only one heartened to see Harry starting to push back against the Dursleys.

**As long as he didn't leave spots of ink on the sheets, the Dursleys need never know that he was studying magic by night.**

"I know what he's doing should normally only elevate him to levels of neardiness up there with Percy and Molly, but I like this sneaky side of Uncle Harry when it's not being put towards, you know, saving the world and stuff. If only he wasn't doing _homework_. But I suppose the end justifies the means…" Fred sighed.

**Harry was particularly keen to avoid trouble with his aunt and uncle at the moment, as they were already in an especially bad mood with him, all because he'd received a telephone call from a fellow wizard one week into the school vacation.**

"Dad," Rose and Hugo sighed simultaneously. Who else could it have been?

**Ron Weasley, who was one of Harry's best friends at Hogwarts, came from a whole family of wizards. This meant that he knew a lot of things Harry didn't, but had never used a telephone before. Most unluckily it had been Uncle Vernon who had answered the call.**

Several people winced in anticipation.

"**Vernon Dursley speaking."**

**Harry, who happened to be in the room at the time, froze as he heard Ron's voice answer.**

"**HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I — WANT —TO — TALK — TO — HARRY — POTTER!"**

**Ron was yelling **

Rose groaned, smacking her forehead.

Scorpius wondered why. How else was Ron supposed to be heard through miles and miles of those wire things that connected telephones?

**so loudly that Uncle Vernon jumped and held the receiver a foot away from his ear, staring at it with an expression of mingled fury and alarm.**

"**WHO IS THIS?" he roared in the direction of the mouthpiece. "WHO ARE YOU?"**

"**RON — WEASLEY!" Ron bellowed back, as though he and Uncle Vernon were speaking from opposite ends of a football field. "I'M — A — FRIEND — OF — HARRY'S — FROM —SCHOOL —"**

"Dad," Rose moaned. "You couldn't possibly be doing this worse."

Scorpius wanted to ask what Ron was doing wrong, but he could tell from most of the others' faces that the answer was everything.

**Uncle Vernon's small eyes swiveled around to Harry, who was rooted to the spot.**

"**THERE IS NO HARRY POTTER HERE!" he roared, now holding the receiver at arm's length, as though frightened it might explode. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT SCHOOL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! NEVER CONTACT ME AGAIN! DON'T YOU COME NEAR MY FAMILY!"**

**And he threw the receiver back onto the telephone as if dropping a poisonous spider.**

"Well, that seemed to go well," Fred said brightly.

**The fight that had followed had been one of the worst ever.**

"**HOW DARE YOU GIVE THIS NUMBER TO PEOPLE LIKE — PEOPLE LIKE **_**YOU**_**!" Uncle Vernon had roared, spraying Harry with spit.**

"He lives there too, unfortunately," Albus muttered under his breath. "He's got as much right to give out that number as they do."

**Ron obviously realized that he'd gotten Harry into trouble, because he hadn't called again. Harry's other best friend from Hogwarts, Hermione Granger, hadn't been in touch either. **

Rose looked disappointed by this. Her mother would have done a much better job dealing with Vernon Dursley – not least because she knew how to use a phone. But then, she might not have had much better luck getting a hold of Harry anyway. Rose didn't suppose too many people called Harry if he had never even gotten a letter before Hogwarts. She sighed.

**Harry suspected that Ron had warned Hermione not to call, which was a pity, because Hermione, the cleverest witch in Harry's year, had Muggle parents, knew perfectly well how to use a telephone, and would probably have had enough sense not to say that she went to Hogwarts.**

"It really is a pity," Albus said regretfully. "Dad could really use someone to talk to in that house."

**So Harry had had no word from any of his wizarding friends for five long weeks, and this summer was turning out to be almost as bad as the last one. **

"That's a bit of a depressing thought," James muttered, remembering the last summer.

**There was just one very small improvement — after swearing that he wouldn't use her to send letters to any of his friends, Harry had been allowed to let his owl, Hedwig, out at night. **

"At least she doesn't have to suffer like Dad," Lily said, trying to smile for the owl.

"I sincerely hope he's at least writing to Ron and Hermione. How're the Dursleys going to know if he's using Hedwig to send mail or not?" James asked.

"Knowing Harry, he probably stuck to his word," Teddy smiled. But the smile didn't last long because he thought Harry probably did things like that out of long habit. He doubted the Dursleys had been very understanding when they had found out he was lying to them when he was a kid. But then he remembered the clandestine study sessions in the dead of night and felt a little better.

**Uncle Vernon had given in because of the racket Hedwig made if she was locked in her cage all the time.**

**Harry finished writing about Wendelin the Weird and paused to listen again. The silence in the dark house was broken only by the distant, grunting snores of his enormous cousin, Dudley. **_**It must be**__**very late, **_**Harry thought. His eyes were itching with tiredness. Perhaps he'd finish this essay tomorrow night. . . .**

**He replaced the top of the ink bottle; pulled an old pillowcase from under his bed; put the flashlight, **_**A History of Magic, **_**his essay, quill, and ink inside it; got out of bed; and hid the lot under a loose floorboard under his bed. **

Fred and James looked approving of this hiding place.

"Cliché," Fred conceded. " But very effective nonetheless."

"I'd give him a nine," James said pensively. "A point off for lack of creativity."

"I'd take a few points off for that," Fred countered.

"Yeah, but you've got to give him props for actually checking all the floor boards under his bed for a loose one," James defended.  
>Fred nodded seriously.<p>

**Then he stood up, stretched, and checked the time on the luminous alarm clock on his bedside table.**

**It was one o'clock in the morning. Harry's stomach gave a funny jolt. He had been thirteen years old, without realizing it, for a whole hour.**

James felt an odd little squirm inside him. His dad was exactly the same age in the book as he was right now. It was strange to think about. Like getting used to reading about him saying 'Harry' instead of 'Dad'.

**Yet another unusual thing about Harry was how little he looked forward to his birthdays. He had never received a birthday card in his life. The Dursleys had completely ignored his last two birthdays, and he had no reason to suppose they would remember this one.**

"We're throwing Dad the best birthday party ever this year," James said decisively.

Albus, Lily, and Teddy all nodded and made noises of emphatic agreement.

"With streamers," Lily added. "And balloons. Green ones. And games. Lots of games. And chocolate cake!"

"Well leave the party planning to you, then, Lil," Teddy smiled.

**Harry walked across the dark room, past Hedwig's large, empty cage, to the open window. He leaned on the sill, the cool night air pleasant on his face after a long time under the blankets. Hedwig had been absent for two nights now. Harry wasn't worried about her: she'd been gone this long before. But he hoped she'd be back soon — she was the only living creature in this house who didn't flinch at the sight of him.**

"Dad, why do you have to go thinking things like that?" Albus said sadly.

**Harry, though still rather small and skinny for his age, had grown a few inches over the last year. **

Albus looked a little hopeful at this. He was getting sick of being teased because Lucy and Hugo were nearly taller than he was.

**His jet-black hair, however, was just as it always had been — stubbornly untidy, whatever he did to it. The eyes behind his glasses were bright green, and on his forehead, clearly visible through his hair, was a thin scar, shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

**Of all the unusual things about Harry, this scar was the most extraordinary of all. It was not, as the Dursleys had pretended for ten years, a souvenir of the car crash that had killed Harry's parents, because Lily and James Potter had not died in a car crash. **

The Lily and James Potter beside the river looked at one another. They had seen their names carved into gravestones, had read and heard their names adjacent to death so many times that it hardly shocked them anymore. But it was still strange and a bit sad. They and Fred belonged to a special club for seconds, as James had once said. People who bore the exact name of someone who had died long before they'd had a chance to know them.

**They had been murdered, **

There was some more wincing at this statement. Murder, though they all were well aware that that was what it was, seemed to cut through the air, sharp as a knife.

**murdered by the most feared Dark wizard for a hundred years, Lord Voldemort. Harry had escaped from the same attack with nothing more than a scar on his forehead, where Voldemort's curse, instead of killing him, had rebounded upon its originator. Barely alive, Voldemort had fled. . . .**

"And I wish he would just stay fled," James muttered under his breath.

**But Harry had come face-to-face with him at Hogwarts. Remembering their last meeting as he stood at the dark window, Harry had to admit he was lucky even to have reached his thirteenth birthday.**

It was sad how true that was. James had never before considered the number of times his father had scraped with death. He had grown up knowing that Harry got into dangerous situations all the time, but he was an adult, a hero. It would seem strange for his father to do anything else now, but when he was young it seemed different. More unfair. Scarier. And the worst part was the second war hadn't even started yet.

**He scanned the starry sky for a sign of Hedwig, perhaps soaring back to him with a dead mouse dangling from her beak, expecting praise. Gazing absently over the rooftops, it was a few seconds before Harry realized what he was seeing.**

**Silhouetted against the golden moon, and growing larger every moment, was a large, strangely lopsided creature, and it was flapping in Harry's direction. **

A few baffled looks were exchanged.

**He stood quite still, watching it sink lower and lower. For a split second he hesitated, his hand on the window latch, wondering whether to slam it shut. But then the bizarre creature soared over one of the street lamps of Privet Drive, and Harry, realizing what it was, leapt aside.**

"What was it?" James said with mild frustration. Why couldn't these books just say things straight?

**Through the window soared three owls, two of them holding up the third, which appeared to be unconscious. **

"Oh, dear," Lily said, sounding rather like her grandmother in that moment as she looked concerned for the unconscious bird.

**They landed with a soft **_**flump **_**on Harry's bed, and the middle owl, which was large and gray, keeled right over and lay motionless. There was a large package tied to its legs.**

**Harry recognized the unconscious owl at once — his name was Errol, **

"Errol!" everyone chorused happily at the return of their favorite bedtime-story-hero.

"Probably fresh from a fight with a bunch of Nargles," Fred sighed. "That's always what makes him late."

**and he belonged to the Weasley family. Harry dashed to the bed, untied the cords around Errol's legs, took off the parcel, and then carried Errol to Hedwig's cage. Errol opened one bleary eye, gave a feeble hoot of thanks, and began to gulp some water.**

**Harry turned back to the remaining owls. One of them, the large snowy female, was his own Hedwig. She, too, was carrying a parcel and looked extremely pleased with herself. She gave Harry an affectionate nip with her beak as he removed her burden, then flew across the room to join Errol.**

**Harry didn't recognize the third owl, a handsome tawny one, but he knew at once where it had come from, because in addition to a third package, it was carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. When Harry relieved this owl of its burden, it ruffled its feathers importantly, stretched its wings, and took off through the window into the night.**

**Harry sat down on his bed and grabbed Errol's package, ripped off the brown paper, and discovered a present wrapped in gold, and his first ever birthday card. **

"Good," Hugo said happily. "Dad's present got through this year."

Lily was smiling too, happy like the others to see that Harry was at least having a better birthday than last years. Although it made her a bit melancholy to think that it had taken thirteen years for her father to get a birthday card.

**Fingers trembling slightly, he opened the envelope. **

_It must have meant a lot to him_, Albus thought, not sure if he wanted to smile or frown.

**Two pieces of paper fell out — a letter and a newspaper clipping. The clipping had clearly come out of the wizarding newspaper, the **_**Daily Prophet, **_**because the people in the black-and-white picture were moving. Harry picked up the clipping, smoothed it out, and read:**

**MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE**

**Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual **_**Daily Prophet **_**Grand Prize Galleon Draw.**

There was some cheering and whistling at the news.

"No one deserves it more than Granddad," Hugo beamed, thinking of how tight for money his family had been back then.

**A delighted Mr. Weasley told the **_**Daily Prophet, **_**"We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday****in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a****curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."****The Weasley family will be spending a month in****Egypt, returning for the start of the new school****year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children****currently attend.**

"That would be so cool," Hugo breathed. "I wish Uncle Bill still worked down in Egypt sometimes."

"Teddy doesn't," Fred smirked. "Then Vic would be on a whole other continent."

Teddy didn't deny it.

**Harry scanned the moving photograph, and a grin spread across his face as he saw all nine of the Weasleys waving furiously at him, standing in front of a large pyramid. Plump little Mrs. Weasley; tall, balding Mr. Weasley; six sons; and one daughter, all (though the black-and-white picture didn't show it) with flaming-red hair. Right in the middle of the picture was Ron, tall and gangling, with his pet rat, Scabbers, on his shoulder and his arm around his little sister, Ginny.**

A few of them smiled nestolgically. They had all seen a clipping like this framed in Mr. Weasley's shed. It was one of the few pictures that included all nine of them together.

**Harry couldn't think of anyone who deserved to win a large pile of gold more than the Weasleys, who were very nice and extremely poor. He picked up Ron's letter and unfolded it.**

_**Dear Harry,**_

_**Happy birthday!**_

Hugo could not help but grin a little. He had taken the letter thing from the last book rather hard. His father had told him once that Harry had practically been his brother long before he'd married Ginny, and stuck in that house was when Harry needed a brother the most.

_**Look, I'm really sorry about that telephone call. I hope the Muggles didn't give you a hard time. I asked Dad, and he reckons I shouldn't have shouted.**_

"You think?" Rose said, but she couldn't be too upset because really, how was her father supposed to know better?

_**It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and**_

_**stuff.**_

"Wicked!" chorused most of the boys. Rose rolled her eyes at them.

"Rose I want to go to Egypt!" Hugo told his sister, tugging on her sleeve as if she was the one who could take him there. "Help me convince Mum and Dad."

_**I couldn't believe it when Dad won the **_**Daily Prophet **_**Draw. Seven hundred galleons!**_

Fred gave a low whistle.

_**Most of it's gone on this trip,**__**but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year.**_

"Good," half the group said fervently.

"We wouldn't want anyone else's memory removed accidentally," Fred grinned wickedly.

**Harry remembered only too well the occasion when Ron's old wand had snapped. It had happened when the car the two of them had been flying to Hogwarts had crashed into a tree on the school grounds.**

"We remember all too well too," James said for no reason other than he liked to be in on his father's remembering.

_**We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there?**_

_**Don't let the Muggles get you down!**_

"Dad must feel bad about getting Harry into trouble," Hugo mumbled.

_**Try and come to London,**_

_**Ron**_

_**PS. Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week.**_

"Oh boy," Fred sighed, letting out a breath as if bracing himself for something. "He's gonna be wound even tighter than usual. And more pompous."

"Just wait 'til Molly gets her badge. If we thought Prefect was bad…" James gave a theatrical shudder.

**Harry glanced back at the photograph. Percy, who was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, was looking particularly smug. He had pinned his Head Boy badge to the fez perched jauntily on top of his neat hair, his horn-rimmed glasses flashing in the Egyptian sun.**

"Even in a photograph he radiates pompousness," James said, making a face.

**Harry now turned to his present and unwrapped it. Inside was what looked like a miniature glass spinning top. There was another note from Ron beneath it.**

_**Harry **_**— **_**this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's supposed to light up and spin. Bill says it's rubbish sold for wizard tourists and isn't reliable, because it kept lighting up at dinner last night. But he didn't realize Fred and George had put beetles in his soup.**_

There was quite a bit of snickering. Fred grinned proudly.

_**Bye **_**—**

**Ron**

**Harry put the Pocket Sneakoscope on his bedside table, where it stood quite still, balanced on its point, reflecting the luminous hands of his clock. He looked at it happily for a few seconds, **

"It is kind of cool," Hugo said.

"And, if the last two years were any indication, very necessary for Harry to have," Teddy pointed out.

"I'll bet Uncle Ron was thinking it would save them a ton of time this year when he bought it," Fred mused.

**Then picked up the parcel Hedwig had brought.**

**Inside this, too, there was a wrapped present, a card, and a letter, this time from Hermione.**

Hugo smiled again.

_**Dear Harry,**_

_**Ron wrote to me and told me about his phone call to your Uncle Vernon. I do hope you're all right.**_

"And after last summer, that question is really appropriate when Dad gets in trouble," Albus muttered. He wondered if his uncle had been afraid he'd gotten his dad locked up again. If he'd written to Hermione about it, it seemed like he was really feeling bad about the whole thing.

_**I'm on holiday in France at the moment **_

"Oh," Rose sighed. That was where she wanted to go. She was a bit jealous of Victoire, Dominique, and Louis, who went nearly every summer to visit their grandparents and aunt in France.

Hugo eyed his sister worriedly, noticing that his ally on the Egypt front was turning sides.

_**and I didn't know how I was going to send this to you **_**— **_**what if they'd opened it at customs? **_**— **_**but then Hedwig turned up! I think she wanted to make sure you got something for your birthday for a change.**_

"Oh!" Lily said, beaming. "Hedwig was the _best _owl ever!"

Teddy nodded, smiling in agreement. Harry needed someone looking out for him while he was at the Dursleys.

_**I bought your present by owl-order; there was an advertisement in the **_**Daily Prophet **_**(I've been getting it delivered; it's so good to keep up with what's going on in the wizarding world). Did you see that picture of Ron and his family a week ago? I bet he's learning loads. I'm really jealous **_**— **_**the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating.**_

"Yeah, that's definitely what Uncle Ron's focusing on – learning," Fred muttered, rolling his eyes.

"She can pretend," Rose said, smiling slightly.

Hugo looked closely at his sister, hoping his mother's mention of academic benefits in going to Egypt would sway her vacation preference.

_**There's some interesting local history of witchcraft here, too. I've rewritten my whole History of Magic essay to include some of the things I've found out. I hope it's not too long **_**—**

"Only Aunt Hermione would worry about a history essay being too _long_," Fred sighed, shaking his head.

_**it's two rolls of parchment more than Professor Binns asked for.**_

Several jaws dropped at this information. Albus wasn't sure if he should be incredulous or impressed. Fred and James and obviously settled with the former, while Rose had picked the latter.

_**Ron says he's going to be in London in the last week of the holidays. Can you make it? Will your aunt and uncle let you come? I really hope you can. If not, I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express on September first!**_

_**Love from**_

**Hermione**

_**PS. Ron says Percy's Head Boy. I'll bet Percy's really pleased. Ron doesn't seem too happy about it.**_

Rose smiled, wondering what the letters between her parents had looked like at this point. She wondered if her mother or her grandparents still had them….

**Harry laughed as he put Hermione's letter aside and picked up her present. It was very heavy. Knowing Hermione, he was sure it would be a large book full of very difficult spells — **

Fred and James looked bored already.

**but it wasn't.**

That got their piqued their curiosity.

**His heart gave a huge bound as he ripped back the paper and saw a sleek black leather case, with silver words stamped across it, reading **_**Broomstick Servicing Kit.**_

"Cool," Fred said appreciatively.

"Very cool, considering Hermione's the one that gave it to him," James added.

Rose frowned. "Mum may not be as obsessed with Quidditch as the rest of us, but she supports us anyway."

"**Wow, Hermione!" Harry whispered, unzipping the case to look inside.**

**There was a large jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of gleaming silver Tail-Twig Clippers, a tiny brass compass to clip on your broom for long journeys, and a **_**Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare.**_

**Apart from his friends, the thing that Harry missed most about Hogwarts was Quidditch, the most popular sport in the magical world — highly dangerous, very exciting, and played on broomsticks. Harry happened to be a very good Quidditch player; **

"That's an understatement," James said with mild indignation.

**he had been the youngest person in a century to be picked for one of the**

**Hogwarts House teams. One of Harry's most prized possessions was his Nimbus Two Thousand racing broom.**

There was a few amused smiles at the dated name.

**Harry put the leather case aside and picked up his last parcel. He recognized the untidy scrawl on the brown paper at once: this was from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. He tore off the top layer of paper and glimpsed something green and leathery, but before he could unwrap it properly, the parcel gave a strange quiver, and whatever was inside it snapped loudly — as though it had jaws**.

The group exchanged apprehensive looks, considering this came from Hagrid. His idea of 'safe' was much different from everyone else's.

**Harry froze. He knew that Hagrid would never send him anything dangerous on purpose, but then, Hagrid didn't have a normal person's view of what was dangerous. Hagrid had been known to befriend giant spiders, buy vicious, three-headed dogs from men in pubs, and sneak illegal dragon eggs into his cabin.**

**Harry poked the parcel nervously. It snapped loudly again. Harry reached for the lamp on his bedside table, gripped it firmly in one hand, and raised it over his head, ready to strike. **

"Probably a smart move," Teddy murmured ruefully, remembering the journal Hagrid had got him for one of his birthdays that had ripped apart everything in his desk. The teeth were meant to keep people from snooping.

**Then he seized the rest of the wrapping paper in his other hand and pulled. And out fell — a book. **

"A book?" Fred repeated in slight disappointment. He had been hoping for something a bit more exciting, but this book had jaws, so he would refrain judgment for now.

**Harry just had time to register its handsome green cover, emblazoned with the golden title **_**The Monster**__**Book of Monsters, **_**before it flipped onto its edge and scuttled sideways along the bed like some weird crab.**

James and Fred exchanged grins, silently deciding that this book was one of the few worth their attention.

"**Uh-oh," Harry muttered.**

**The book toppled off the bed with a loud clunk and shuffled rapidly across the room. Harry followed it stealthily. **

"The monster-book hunter is on the prowl," Fred whispered loudly.

**The book was hiding in the dark space under his desk. **

"Closing in on his prey, the rare… er – Monster book."

**Praying that the Dursleys were still fast asleep, Harry got down on his hands and knees and reached toward it.**

"**Ouch!"**

**The book snapped shut on his hand and then flapped past him, still scuttling on its covers. **

"Ooo, rookie mistake," Fred winced. "The book gets the better of him this time, but the hunter will not give up so easily."

**Harry scrambled around, threw himself forward, and managed to flatten it. **

"For the capture!" Fred cried triumphantly. "The hunter succeeds again! That's another Monster book nabbed!"

**Uncle Vernon gave a loud, sleepy grunt in the room next door.**

**Hedwig and Errol watched interestedly as Harry clamped the struggling book tightly in his arms, hurried to his chest of drawers, and pulled out a belt, which he buckled tightly around it. The **_**Monster Book **_**shuddered angrily, but could no longer flap and snap,**

"That's what you get for messing with a hunter!" Fred smirked.

**so Harry threw it down on the bed and reached for Hagrid's card.**

_**Dear Harry,**_

_**Happy birthday!**_

_**Think you might find this useful for next year.**_

They looked curiously at one another.

"Why would that be useful?" Scorpius asked cautiously.

Rose and Albus shrugged at him.

_**Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you.**_

_**Hope the Muggles are treating you right.**_

_**All the best,**_

_**Hagrid**_

**It struck Harry as ominous that Hagrid thought a biting book would come in useful, but he put Hagrid's card up next to Ron's and Hermione's, grinning more broadly than ever. Now there was only the letter from Hogwarts left.**

**Noticing that it was rather thicker than usual, **

"Oh! He'll be getting his Hogsemeade form this year!" James said suddenly.

He couldn't wait until he got his own this summer. Louis had spent most of last year rubbing in the fact that he was allowed to go into the village and James and Fred were not. He didn't know that Fred and James used the Maruaders' Map to sneak into the village on a regular basis anyway, but there was something to be said about not having to duck behind trash bins all the time to avoid being spotted by prefects.

**Harry slit open the envelope, pulled out the first page of parchment within, and read:**

_**Dear Mr. Potter,**_

_**Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock. Third years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign.**_

_**A list of books for next year is enclosed.**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Minerva McGonagall **_

_**Deputy Headmistress**_

**Harry pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form and looked at it, no longer grinning. **

"Why not?" James asked, taken aback.

Rose gave him an incredulous look. "And what exactly makes you think the Dursleys will give your dad permission to enjoy himself when they've spent so much of their time ensuring his life is miserable?"

"Oh, right," James muttered, face falling. "Guess Dad'll have to find another way to get permission."

But Teddy, who had suddenly remembered something Harry had said when he'd signed Teddy's permission slip, wasn't so sure that Harry would just yet. Teddy had been staying at Harry's house when his letter had arrived before third year. Harry had signed it, smiling in that sad way he had sometimes, and told him it was something of a tradition now for them for godfathers to sign permission slips. But Harry still didn't seem to have any idea who Sirius Black was.

**It would be wonderful to visit Hogsmeade on weekends; he knew it was an entirely wizarding village, and he had never set foot there. But how on earth was he going to persuade Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia to sign the form?**

James bit his lip. "Maybe if he's really, really sneaky about it…." he trailed off hopefully.

**He looked over at the alarm clock. It was now two o'clock in the morning.**

**Deciding that he'd worry about the Hogsmeade form when he woke up, Harry got back into bed and reached up to cross off another day on the chart he'd made for himself, counting down the days left until his return to Hogwarts. Then he took off his glasses and lay down, eyes open, facing his three birthday cards.**

**Extremely unusual though he was, at that moment Harry Potter felt just like everyone else — glad, for the first time in his life, that it was his birthday.**

Teddy closed the book, a strange mixture of relieved and a little sad. Reading about Harry with the Dursleys made them all sad. No matter how much they heard about it, it never seemed to get any easier to read about.

But it hadn't been nearly as bad as the first chapter of the last book. Harry had actually gotten birthday cards and presents. It reminded Teddy of what Harry had said, how he had other people who cared about him and that was plenty for him.

Similar thoughts seemed to be playing in the others' minds.

"The next chapter's called 'Aunt Marge's Big Mistake'," Teddy announced.

All three Potters' heads whipped around.

"I call it!" James shouted, lunging for the book before anyone else could make a move.

**A/N: Was it a good start? We really hope so! So now we have to start all over again with reviews and feedback! Special shout out to our first reviewer for this story! :D and to everyone who reviews after that, we'll shout out to you in our heads! :D We haven't been doling out awesomeness lately, so that's your prize if you review! **


	2. Aunt Marge's Big Mistake

**Disclaimer: Really. We swear. **

**A/N: Hello all! Guess what? You are currently hearing from two new Pottermore-account-holding members! Ah! We are super excited! Got up uber early this morning and waited for surprising only a half hour to get our accounts! Yes! :D **

**Anyway, on with the story. 55 reviews for one chapter? Guys that's freaking amazing! You rock! Siriusly! :D We've never gotten that many reviews for one chapter, ever! Thanks so much! **

**But about the reviews. Quite a few of you mentioned that we had messed up with saying Sirius was cleared. You mentioned that Fudge says his name is cleared in the sixth book. It's a great catch, but we DID do our research! We remembered that part too while we were writing and looked it up. Fudge doesn't actually say Sirius is legally cleared. He says he's innocent and that there will be an inquiry about his death, but that's it. You can go check if you want! Anyway, nowhere in the books does it say that Sirius's name was actually cleared. We all assume it was because even Fudge admits he's innocent, but, for the sake of our story, Dumbledore was able to get a public piece in the paper declaring Sirius's innocence, but because they never found Peter (I don't think the Death Eaters would be very keen on saying 'hey, we've got Peter Pettigrew right here! Want to lock him up?) or his body (the Malfoys burned it or transfigured it because they didn't want another body on their hands) and the only witnesses in the whole story were three scared, possibly confounded children (the court can't prove that they weren't by this point and Snape gave that as evidence that night) and a werewolf (bigotry sucks). By the time they got a decent regime going without the clutters of war to take priority, most of the people involved were dead anyway and the ones who weren't were still not valid witnesses due to age, emotion, and circumstance. So the public took Harry and Dumbledore's word for it, but the courts couldn't, therefore Sirius's name is still on the records, even if the general population no longer believes he's guilty. And Rose, love her as we do, is her mother's daughter and goes by the books. **

**She made herself some enemies, didn't she? Sorry if you thought she was annoying, but everyone's got faults and skepticism is one of hers. Hopefully she'll grow out of it or learn some tact. Now to end this WAY too long author's note. Just had to explain a few things! On to the rest of the story. **

Chapter Two

Aunt Marge's Big Mistake

"I'm sensing a good story coming up," said Fred, eyeing the wicked grin on James's face as he rifled eagerly to the second chapter.

Albus and Lily exchanged smirks.

"You must be clairvoyant," Albus told his cousin, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"A _very _good story, then," Fred amended, noting Al's expression with curiosity.

"Hang on, is this the Aunt Marge you lot wouldn't tell me about in the first book?" Rose asked, looking from Albus to James suspiciously.

Neither one answered, but Albus flashed a smirk in her direction.

"What are you talking about? Since when has Harry got an Aunt Marge?" Teddy asked, feeling oddly out of the loop. "And why is it that you lot seem to know something about her that I don't?"

"Because Al's nosy," Lily said promptly.

Albus stuck his tongue out at her before turning back to Teddy.

"I… might have…._accidentally_ overheard a conversation Dad didn't think I was listening to while we were at the Dursleys."

"It's moments like these I start thinking we might actually be related," James sighed.

Then he looked down at the book to start reading. But when James saw the picture over the next chapter title, an enormous woman he presumed was Aunt Marge bobbing like a balloon, he let out a gleeful hoot of laughter.

"What?" Fred demanded, frustrated, trying to peer over James's shoulder.

But James hugged the book to his chest, smirking.

"Now, now, no peeking," he chastised. "You have to wait until we read about it."

"So start reading," Fred huffed, sitting back.

James gladly obliged.

**Chapter Two**

**Aunt Marge's Big Mistake**

Unable to resist it, he looked up at his brother and sister one more time with a vindictive smile.

This nearly drove Teddy mad.

"_What _is it that you know and we all don't?" he demanded.

"All in good time, Ted," James told him with a superior sort of smirk, patting the book.

"Has anyone ever told you you're an annoying little twit?" Teddy asked James.

"Of course," James answered, grinning broadly as if he were proud of that fact. "Mostly you."

**Harry went down to breakfast the next morning to find the three Dursleys already sitting around the kitchen table. They were watching a brand-new television, a welcome-home-for-the-summer present for Dudley, **

"Do they get him congratulations-on-not-getting-expelled gifts, too, or are the well-done-for-just-existing presents enough?" Fred asked, wrinkling his nose.

**who had been complaining loudly about the long walk between the fridge and the television in the living room. **

"Too many – mocking comments – can't pick – must make fun of –" Fred buried his face in his hands, sizzing and popping like a dying electronic before crumpling backwards and laying motionless.

Hugo poked him.

James kept reading.

**Dudley had spent most of the summer in the kitchen, his piggy little eyes fixed on the screen and his five chins wobbling as he ate continually.**

"That is not healthy," Rose said in disgust. "Honestly, how can his parents allow this to happen to him? Can you say 'heart disease'?"

"He works out, now," Albus told her. "Almost obsessed with lifting weights and stuff. I mean, he's still huge, but not so fat."

"At least there's hope for that boy in the book then," Rose sighed.

**Harry sat down between Dudley and Uncle Vernon, a large, beefy man with very little neck and a lot of mustache. Far from wishing Harry a happy birthday, none of the Dursleys made any sign that they had noticed Harry enter the room, but Harry was far too used to this to care. **

Lily sighed sadly and Albus looked down. Rose bit her lip, but James kept reading with the merest trace of a scowl on his face.

Teddy wondered if that was true. Did Harry really not care that he was ignored all the time? And if so, what did that say about him? It was hard, being a good seven years older than his godfather in the book, for Teddy not to look at every detail, not to speculate about how what the Dursleys had done had shaped the man looked at as a father.

**He helped himself to a piece of toast and then looked up at the reporter on the television, who was halfway through a report on an escaped convict:**

"**. . . The public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. **

"That's Sirius!" James crowed delightedly, completely unperturbed that his namesake's second mention was as a dangerous convict.

"But it's the Muggle news," Scorpius said, confused. "How do you know it's him?"

"They said _Black_," James pointed out, rolling his eyes. "How many escaped prisoners with the last name 'Black' can be on the loose in one summer?"

"Wait, his name's Sirius _Black_?" Scorpius demanded, suddenly straightening up. "As in the ancient and most noble house?"

"Yup," Teddy nodded. "He was Gran's favorite cousin."

"So… so I'm, like, related to him?" Scorpius asked, for some reason feeling rather blown away by this information.

"Yeah," shrugged Albus, who had come to this realization several months before.

"But I've never even heard of him!"

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't," Teddy said darkly. "He got blasted off the tree just like my grandmother."

"Why?" Scorpius asked, intensely curious about this strange new connection to the Potters he had stumbled across.

Teddy opened his mouth, but, noticing James's impatient expression, smiled and said instead, "long story. I expect we'll get to it eventually."

**A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately."**

"**No need to tell us **_**he's **_**no good," snorted Uncle Vernon, **

"He's a heck of a lot better than you," James snapped irritably at the book.

**staring over the top of his newspaper at the prisoner. "Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout! Look at his hair!"**

James looked indignant, but there was little he could say. He had seen pictures of Sirius after his escape and he did look pretty awful. If James hadn't been named after the man, he might have found his appearance frightening rather than extremely cool.

**He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy hair had always been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon. **

James and Albus both ran a hand through their messy hair.

"Well we're sorry we annoy you," Albus grumbled.

"I'm not," James scowled

**Compared to the man on the television, however, whose gaunt face was surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle, Harry felt very well groomed indeed.**

"Not exactly the best first impression," Teddy muttered, unable to help the slight smirk that crept onto his face.

**The reporter had reappeared.**

"**The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will announce today —"**

"**Hang on!" barked Uncle Vernon, staring furiously at the reporter. "You didn't tell us where that maniac's escaped from! What use is that? Lunatic could be coming up the street right now!"**

"You have no idea how true that is," James paused to say darkly.

**Aunt Petunia, who was bony and horse-faced, whipped around and peered intently out of the kitchen window. Harry knew Aunt Petunia would simply love to be the one to call the hot line number. She was the nosiest woman in the world and spent most of her life spying on the boring, law-abiding neighbors.**

There was a bit of snickering mingled with eye-rolls.

"Sounds like an extremely boring life," James drawled.

"You know, for all the secrets she's keeping, you'd think she'd have some respect for privacy," Rose commented.

"**When will they **_**learn,**_**" said Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his large purple fist, "that hanging's the only way to deal with these people?"**

James spluttered indignantly.

"Yeah and he'd have ten innocent men hung for the death of one criminal," he muttered furiously. Then casting an angry glance at Rose added, "but I s'pose you agree, huh? Better get rid of these criminals?"

Rose looked hurt.

"I don't want people dead, James!" she said a little shrilly.

"Oh, right. Just remembered in infamy for a crime they didn't commit," James shot back.

"I didn't say I thought he was guilty," Rose said heatedly. "I don't," she added at the skeptical looks she was getting.

"So what does 'not innocent', mean in Rose world?" James asked, rolling his eyes.

"Just that, well, maybe not as completely innocent as you make him out to be. Honestly, James, the way you talk it's like you think Sirius was a saint!"

"So what? You think our parents are lying to us? That _your mum_ is lying to you?" he demanded.

"No," Rose said in frustration. "I don't think they're _lying_, I just think they aren't telling us the whole truth. You know they do that all the time, to protect us or whatever. But if Sirius can get into a situation where there isn't enough evidence to clear his name, well, maybe he wasn't _completely _innocent. And I think you should consider that before you go putting him so high up on a pedestal that he'll shatter if he falls."

James gaped at her for a moment before shaking his head and returning to the book.

"**Very true," said Aunt Petunia, who was still squinting into next door's runner beans.**

**Uncle Vernon drained his teacup, glanced at his watch, and added, "I'd better be off in a minute, Petunia. Marge's train gets in at ten."**

**Harry, whose thoughts had been upstairs with the Broomstick Servicing Kit, was brought back to earth with an unpleasant bump.**

"**Aunt Marge?" he blurted out. "Sh — **_**she's **_**not coming here, is she?"**

"He seems quite thrilled about it, doesn't he?" Fred said conversationally.

"Maybe I should revoke your clairvoyancy status," Albus said, giving his cousin an odd look.

**Aunt Marge was Uncle Vernon's sister. **

_Ah_, Teddy thought. _That would explain why I've never heard of her_.

**Even though she was not a blood relative of Harry's (whose mother had been Aunt Petunia's sister), he had been forced to call her "Aunt" all his life. **

"Why?" Hugo asked. "If Harry's uncle doesn't like him, why's he want to make it seem like Harry's related to his sister?"

"My bet is Dudley threw a tantrum over it at some point when they were little," Rose said thoughtfully. "Maybe he didn't understand the whole my-aunt-but-not-your-aunt thing and instead of explaining it to him, his parents thought it would be easier just to make Harry call her 'aunt', too."

**Aunt Marge lived in the country, in a house with a large garden, where she bred bulldogs. She didn't often stay at Privet Drive, because she couldn't bear to leave her precious dogs, but each of her visits stood out horribly vividly in Harry's mind.**

"That sounds ominous," Rose murmured, bracing herself for what was surely coming. It sounded like Aunt Marge was as fond of her uncle as the rest of the family.

**At Dudley's fifth birthday party, Aunt Marge had whacked Harry around the shins with her walking stick to stop him from beating Dudley at musical statues. **

Lily gasped in outrage as most of the others frowned. Who whacked a four-year-old (because Harry would have still been four) around the shins?

Teddy sighed in resignation. He was just surprised that Harry had been allowed to join in the games at all.

**A few years later, she had turned up at Christmas with a computerized robot for Dudley and a box of dog biscuits for Harry. **

"So generous," Rose said, wrinkling her nose.

**On her last visit, the year before Harry started at Hogwarts, Harry had accidentally trodden on the tail of her favorite dog. Ripper had chased Harry out into the garden and up a tree, and Aunt Marge had refused to call him off until past midnight.**

"What?" Teddy asked sharply, jerking upright again.

"She left him up a tree all night! With a dog trying to rip him up?" Rose shrieked, eyes flashing furiously.

"She _is _Uncle Vernon's sister," Albus pointed out in a low voice. "You know, the man who locked a kid up in a cupboard for ten years."

"But this is just so… so horrible! I mean, each thing alone – ignoring a child, barely feeding them enough to get by, locking them up, setting a dog on them – those are bad enough, but to think that Harry _lived _like this for ten years! And then had to go back to it every summer! I just… I can hardly believe it's true. I wish someone would come tell us it wasn't." Rose sighed sadly.

Albus nodded glumly as James went back to the book, his voice a little bitter.

**The memory of this incident still brought tears of laughter to Dudley's eyes.**

"Jerk," Hugo muttered, sticking his tongue out at the book.

"Hey, do you think this is why Dad won't let us get a dog?" James asked suddenly. "This didn't like, you know, scar him or something, did it?"

"I doubt your dad's afraid of dogs," Teddy said, thinking of Sirius's animagus form.

"And I think mum and dad won't let us get a dog because you almost killed Dudley's when we were over there that one summer, remember?"

"I didn't _mean _to set his fur on fire," James said defensively. "How was I supposed to know the sparks would get that far away on the wind? And it didn't hurt him! Mum put it out before he even got burned."

"But he had a big bald spot for three months," Lily reminded her brother.

"It made him look tough," James shrugged, and returned hastily to the book.

"**Marge'll be here for a week," Uncle Vernon snarled, "and while we're on the subject" — he pointed a fat finger threateningly at Harry — "we need to get a few things straight before I go and collect her."**

**Dudley smirked and withdrew his gaze from the television. Watching Harry being bullied by Uncle Vernon was Dudley's favorite form of entertainment.**

"That's horrible," Lily said angrily.

"Yeah, what else is new?" Albus said dully. He looked almost as if he wasn't really listening, but something in his eyes flashed and told otherwise.

"**Firstly," growled Uncle Vernon, "you'll keep a civil tongue in your head when you're talking to Marge."**

"**All right," said Harry bitterly, "if she does when she's talking to me."**

James allowed a small smirk to flit across his face. This was the backtalk he was hoping for.

"**Secondly," said Uncle Vernon, acting as though he had not heard Harry's reply, "as Marge doesn't know anything about your **_**abnormality, **_**I don't want any — any **_**funny **_**stuff while she's here. You behave yourself, got me?"**

"**I will if she does," said Harry through gritted teeth.**

"I get the feeling she won't," Albus muttered angrily.

"**And thirdly," said Uncle Vernon, his mean little eyes now slits in his great purple face, "we've told Marge you attend St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys."**

"What?" Teddy spluttered.

"They're telling people Dad's a criminal?" Lily asked, cheeks flushing angrily.

"What _else _could possibly explain where he goes during the school year?" Rose said acidly, shaking her head.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that information warmed her right up to Dad," James growled. "Won't have to worry about her dog keeping him stuck up a tree anymore, now."

"_**What**_**?" Harry yelled.**

"That's what we said," Hugo muttered, glowering and imagining Vernon Dursley feeling it from miles away.

"**And you'll be sticking to that story, boy, or there'll be trouble," spat Uncle Vernon.**

**Harry sat there, white-faced and furious, staring at Uncle Vernon, hardly able to believe it. Aunt Marge coming for a weeklong visit — it was the worst birthday present the Dursleys had ever given him, including that pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

Those sitting beside the river were none too thrilled about it either.

"**Well, Petunia," said Uncle Vernon, getting heavily to his feet, "I'll be off to the station, then. Want to come along for the ride, Dudders?"**

"**No," said Dudley, whose attention had returned to the television now that Uncle Vernon had finished threatening Harry.**

"**Duddy's got to make himself smart for his auntie," said Aunt Petunia, smoothing Dudley's thick blond hair.**

"Has she got a decade to wait around?" Fred asked with mock concern.

"I think it'll take longer than that to make Dudley smart," James snickered.

"**Mummy's bought him a lovely new bow tie."**

**Uncle Vernon clapped Dudley on his porky shoulder.**

"**See you in a bit, then," he said, and he left the kitchen.**

**Harry, who had been sitting in a kind of horrified trance, had a sudden idea. Abandoning his toast, he got quickly to his feet and followed Uncle Vernon to the front door.**

**Uncle Vernon was pulling on his car coat.**

"**I'm not taking **_**you,**_**" he snarled as he turned to see Harry watching him.**

"Like Dad wants to come," Albus muttered, rolling his eyes.

"**Like I wanted to come," said Harry coldly. "I want to ask you something."**

**Uncle Vernon eyed him suspiciously.**

"**Third years at Hog — at my school are allowed to visit the village sometimes," said Harry.**

"He's not picking _now _to ask for permission, is he?" Albus asked incredulously.

"Of course he is," James smirked, for once on the same page as his father while Albus wasn't. "Can't miss an opportunity like that."

"What sort of opportunity?" Albus asked.

"Great Uncle Vernon needs something from him," James explained with exaggerated patience.

"Where do you get that from?"

"Come on, Al. Not even you are that thick! He wants Dad to keep his mouth shut around his sister."

"Yeah, he just took care of that, didn't he? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to find out what sort of 'trouble' he meant after last summer."

James shook his head. For all that people said his brother was like his father, they were wrong. Al was way meeker. He returned to the book, figuring it would explain better.

"**So?" snapped Uncle Vernon, taking his car keys from a hook next to the door.**

"**I need you to sign the permission form," said Harry in a rush.**

"**And why should I do that?" sneered Uncle Vernon.**

"**Well," said Harry, choosing his words carefully, "it'll be hard work, pretending to Aunt Marge I go to that St. Whatsits —"**

"**St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys!" bellowed Uncle Vernon, and Harry was pleased to hear a definite note of panic in Uncle Vernon's voice.**

Fred and James exchanged smirks.

"He knows what he's doing," Teddy grinned.

Al had finally cottoned on and was thinking this proved his dad had more guts than he ever would.

Even Lily looked rather impressed. For all her sweetness, she was practiced at this sort of thing.

"**Exactly," said Harry, looking calmly up into Uncle Vernon's large, purple face. "It's a lot to remember. I'll have to make it sound convincing, won't I? What if I accidentally let something slip?"**

"_**You'll get the stuffing knocked out of you, won't you**_**?" roared Uncle Vernon, advancing on Harry with his fist raised. **

A few people flinched. Teddy felt his insides clench, and Albus had gone suddenly cold. James hurriedly read the next few lines.

**But Harry stood his ground.**

"**Knocking the stuffing out of me won't make Aunt Marge forget what I could tell her," he said grimly.**

**Uncle Vernon stopped, his fist still raised, his face an ugly puce.**

"**But if you sign my permission form," Harry went on quickly, "I swear I'll remember where I'm supposed to go to school, and I'll act like a Mug — like I'm normal and everything."**

**Harry could tell that Uncle Vernon was thinking it over, even if his teeth were bared and a vein was throbbing in his temple.**

"**Right," he snapped finally. "I shall monitor your behavior carefully during Marge's visit. If, at the end of it, you've toed the line and kept to the story, I'll sign your ruddy form."**

**He wheeled around, pulled open the front door, and slammed it so hard that one of the little panes of glass at the top fell out.**

Teddy slumped a little in relief. Harry had told him the Dursleys had never hit him. He shouldn't get so on edge. It made the younger kids more tense. _But they should be_, Teddy thought to himself. _If I act like threatening to beat the crap out of kid is fine, what message is that sending?_

"Teddy?"

Al's voice made him look 'round. Albus was looking up at him, eyes filled with the kind of desperate search for reassurance that Teddy had seen when he was little and afraid a monster was hiding in his closet. But Teddy didn't think the fear was so unfounded this time.

"Did they hit dad?" he whispered. "Ever?"

The river bank seemed to fall utterly silent, even the water slowing to a quiet creep as all eyes fixed on Teddy.

"I –" Teddy cleared his throat. "He told me yesterday that they didn't," he told them quietly.

"Was he telling the truth?" Albus persisted, looking rather pale. "Because it seemed pretty close just now, and he didn't seem all that surprised."

Teddy didn't know what to say because he had been wondering the same thing.

"I have to think he was," he said finally, looking from one anxious face to the next. "Obviously some awful stuff happened in that house, but… but I have to think that was a line they didn't cross. Came close to, maybe, but didn't cross. If – if something like that did happen, I think we would have read about it by now."

Lily and James looked reassured, if still upset, but Albus wasn't soothed quite as easily.

"But these books were being sold to kids," he pointed out. "You'd think the Muggles might sensor them."

Teddy hesitated, feeling the renewed fear this point had brought up.

"But you read the first four chapters from the original at school, didn't you?" he asked.

Albus nodded.

"Do they match up with our books?"

Albus nodded again, more slowly as if he were thinking.

"I don't think anything got left out then," he told them, trying to smile. "Whatever they did, I don't think they stooped that low."

No one said anything for a minute. Lily drew her knees up to her chin, and Albus, Rose, and Scorpius exchanged looks that seemed to hold an entire conversation. James stared down at the book, but didn't read.

"But he got the better of them with that one," Fred finally said, grinning a little. "He got the upper hand with his uncle."

"Yeah, he did, didn't he?" James said, a broad smile breaking out on his face. "That was excellently executed if I do say so myself."

"I'd give him a perfect ten," Fred nodded.

"Plus he got him angry enough to break his front door," James snickered.

The mood seemed to lighten considerably with their banter, and James was smiling in satisfied way as he kept reading, reminding himself what was coming.

**Harry didn't return to the kitchen. **

"I wouldn't either," Fred muttered.

**He went back upstairs to his bedroom. If he was going to act like a real Muggle, he'd better start now. Slowly and sadly he gathered up all his presents and his birthday cards and hid them under the loose floorboard with his homework. **

"Oh. He doesn't even get to enjoy his birthday presents and stuff," Lily said a little sadly. He had been so happy about them.

**Then he went to Hedwig's cage. Errol seemed to have recovered; he and Hedwig were both asleep, heads under their wings. Harry sighed, then poked them both awake.**

"**Hedwig," he said gloomily, "you're going to have to clear off for a week. Go with Errol. Ron'll look after you. I'll write him a note, explaining. And don't look at me like that" — Hedwig's large amber eyes were reproachful — "it's not my fault. It's the only way I'll be allowed to visit Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione."**

"Poor Hedwig. Dad could have phrased it a little better instead of telling her to clear off," Lily said, stifling a little giggle.

**Ten minutes later, Errol and Hedwig (who had a note to Ron bound to her leg) soared out of the window and out of sight. Harry, now feeling thoroughly miserable, put the empty cage away inside the wardrobe.**

**But Harry didn't have long to brood. In next to no time, Aunt Petunia was shrieking up the stairs for Harry to come down and get ready to welcome their guest.**

"**Do something about your hair!" Aunt Petunia snapped as he reached the hall.**

"Not much can be done," Rose said ruefully.

**Harry couldn't see the point of trying to make his hair lie flat. Aunt Marge loved criticizing him, so the untidier he looked, the happier she would be.**

"Well now I just can't wait to meet her," Albus muttered.

**All too soon, there was a crunch of gravel outside as Uncle Vernon's car pulled back into the driveway, then the clunk of the car doors and footsteps on the garden path.**

"**Get the door!" Aunt Petunia hissed at Harry.**

**A feeling of great gloom in his stomach, Harry pulled the door open.**

**On the threshold stood Aunt Marge. She was very like Uncle Vernon: large, beefy, and purple-faced, she even had a mustache, though not as bushy as his. **

"Sounds like a knock-out," Fred snickered.

"Don't be mean," Lily reprimanded.

Fred raised his eyebrows at her. "You're telling _me _not to be mean about _her_? The woman who whacked your dad around with her walking stick and let her dog keep him hanging in a tree for hours?"

Lily pursed her lips, but didn't know what to say to that.

**In one hand she held an enormous suitcase, and tucked under the other was an old and evil-tempered bulldog.**

"Wonderful," Albus said warily.

"**Where's my Dudders?" roared Aunt Marge. "Where's my neffypoo?"**

The boys all snickered at that nickname.

**Dudley came waddling down the hall, his blond hair plastered flat to his fat head, a bow tie just visible under his many chins. Aunt Marge thrust the suitcase into Harry's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, **

Teddy scowled. Two seconds of this woman actually being in the story and he already was dying to hear what was going to happen to her. If it made James smirk like that, chances were he'd enjoy it.

**seized Dudley in a tight one-armed hug, and planted a large kiss on his cheek.**

**Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley only put up with Aunt Marge's hugs because he was well paid for it, and sure enough, when they broke apart, Dudley had a crisp twenty-pound note clutched in his fat fist.**

"Wish we got paid for putting up with our aunts' hugs," Fred muttered. "We'd all be rich by now, even if it was just a few knuts."

"Yes, but we're not spoiled little brats," Lily reminded him primly.

"**Petunia!" shouted Aunt Marge, striding past Harry as though he was a hat stand. Aunt Marge and Aunt Petunia kissed, or rather, Aunt Marge bumped her large jaw against Aunt Petunia's bony cheekbone.**

**Uncle Vernon now came in, smiling jovially as he shut the door.**

"**Tea, Marge?" he said. "And what will Ripper take?"**

"Oh, it's that one again, too," Albus muttered, not keen on the situation at all.

"**Ripper can have some tea out of my saucer," said Aunt Marge as they all proceeded into the kitchen, leaving Harry alone in the hall with the suitcase. But Harry wasn't complaining; any excuse not to be with Aunt Marge was fine by him, so he began to heave the case upstairs into the spare bedroom, taking as long as he could.**

"Think he could take all week?" Fred asked hopefully.

**By the time he got back to the kitchen, Aunt Marge had been supplied with tea and fruitcake, and Ripper was lapping noisily in the corner. Harry saw Aunt Petunia wince slightly as specks of tea and drool flecked her clean floor. Aunt Petunia hated animals.**

The Potters exchanged smirks.

"Yeah, I'll bet she loved that," James snickered. "I'm surprised she lets that thing into her kitchen at all."

"She let you in, didn't she?" Lily said innocently.

Grinning, Fred smacked Lily a high five. James gave him a look of betrayal before continuing to read.

"**Who's looking after the other dogs, Marge?" Uncle Vernon asked.**

"**Oh, I've got Colonel Fubster managing them," boomed Aunt Marge. "He's retired now, good for him to have something to do. But I couldn't leave poor old Ripper. He pines if he's away from me."**

**Ripper began to growl again as Harry sat down. This directed Aunt Marge's attention to Harry for the first time.**

"Oh goody," Fred said under his breath, grimacing.

"**So!" she barked. "Still here, are you?"**

"Unfortunately," Albus sighed.

"**Yes," said Harry.**

"**Don't you say 'yes' in that ungrateful tone," Aunt Marge growled. "It's damn good of Vernon and Petunia to keep you.**

"Not the way they do it," Fred muttered.

**Wouldn't have done it myself. You'd have gone straight to an orphanage if you'd been dumped on **_**my **_**doorstep."**

**Harry was bursting to say that he'd rather live in an orphanage than with the Dursleys, **

"Oh, please do, Dad," James begged even though he'd seen the rest of the sentence. He was dying for someone to shut her up already.

**but the thought of the Hogsmeade form stopped him. He forced his face into a painful smile.**

"**Don't you smirk at me!" boomed Aunt Marge. "I can see you haven't improved since I last saw you. I hoped school would knock some manners into you." **

"Dad's like, the most polite thirteen-year-old ever, probably," James said, rolling his eyes.

"Not around them," Albus pointed out.

"Well, they don't deserve it. I'm surprised any of them even knows what the word 'manners' means."

**She took a large gulp of tea, wiped her mustache, and said, "Where is it that you send him, again, Vernon?"**

"**St. Brutus's," said Uncle Vernon promptly. "It's a first-rate institution for hopeless cases."**

"Really laying it on thick," Rose said with disgust. "You'd think, if he wanted Harry to keep his mouth shut, he wouldn't try to antagonize him with his sister."

"**I see," said Aunt Marge. "Do they use the cane at St. Brutus's, boy?" she barked across the table.**

"The cane?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. "Does she mean, like, to beat students?"

"Yes," Teddy said grimly.

"**Er —"**

**Uncle Vernon nodded curtly behind Aunt Marge's back.**

"**Yes," said Harry. Then, feeling he might as well do the thing properly, he added, "all the time."**

"**Excellent," said Aunt Marge. **

"Not excellent," Lily said, firing up. "You should _not _hit kids, even as punishment."

She was thinking about her dad and the conversation they had just had about that 'line'.

"**I won't have this namby-pamby, wishy-washy nonsense about not hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is what's needed in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred.**

Lily gaped.

"That's – well, that's ridiculous! And utterly horrible," Rose said in outrage.

"So I wonder who keeps slacking off on old Margie's thrashings," Fred asked. "She sure deserves it."

**Have **_**you **_**been beaten often?"**

"**Oh, yeah," said Harry, "loads of times."**

Teddy winced a little, thought tried to reassure himself that the casual way Harry was throwing that out there meant there really was no truth behind it.

**Aunt Marge narrowed her eyes.**

"**I still don't like your tone, boy," she said. "If you can speak of your beatings in that casual way, they clearly aren't hitting you hard enough. Petunia, I'd write if I were you. Make it clear that you approve the use of extreme force in this boy's case."**

There were a few outraged hisses, but James didn't stop for comments. He wanted to get past this unpleasant bit and to the awesome bit at the end. It had not really crossed his mind what reading the build-up to Aunt Marge's misfortune would be like, but surely she must have made his father extremely angry to force magic out of him like that. He wasn't looking forward to having to read all about that.

**Perhaps Uncle Vernon was worried that Harry might forget their bargain; in any case, he changed the subject abruptly.**

"**Heard the news this morning, Marge? What about that escaped prisoner, eh?"**

"You have no idea _what _about him," James said with an evil sort of smirk.

**As Aunt Marge started to make herself at home, Harry caught himself thinking almost longingly of life at number four without her.**

Fred winced. "That must mean it was really bad."

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia usually encouraged Harry to stay out of their way, which Harry was only too happy to do. Aunt Marge, on the other hand, wanted Harry under her eye at all times, so that she could boom out suggestions for his improvement. **

Rose scowled. There was nothing wrong with her uncle and there never had been.

**She delighted in comparing Harry with Dudley, **

"How could that comparison possibly come out with Dudley in a flattering light?" Fred demanded.

**and took huge pleasure in buying Dudley expensive presents while glaring at Harry, as though daring him to ask why he hadn't got a present too. **

_He already knows why,_ Teddy thought a bit sadly.

**She also kept throwing out dark hints about what made Harry such an unsatisfactory person.**

"Lovely," Scorpius muttered. This woman vaguely reminded him of his grandfather, in the way she took such pleasure in sitting around and tearing into people. The difference was that she was not afraid to do it directly to that person's face.

"**You mustn't blame yourself for the way the boy's turned out, Vernon," she said over lunch on the third day. "If there's something rotten on the **_**inside, **_**there's nothing anyone can do about it."**

"There's nothing rotten about Dad, inside or out," Lily spat.

**Harry tried to concentrate on his food, but his hands shook and his face was starting to burn with anger. **_**Remember the form**_**, he told himself. **_**Think about Hogsmeade. Don't say anything. Don't rise **_**—**

James was suddenly looking eager, wondering if this was the moment it had happened.

**Aunt Marge reached for her glass of wine.**

"**It's one of the basic rules of breeding," she said. "You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup —"**

"And there's nothing wrong with grandma Lily either!" Lily said shrilly. She was almost shaking with fury. How was her father sitting there and listening to this?

**At that moment, the wineglass Aunt Marge was holding exploded in her hand. Shards of glass flew in every direction and Aunt Marge sputtered and blinked, her great ruddy face dripping.**

"Did dad do that?" Albus asked, lifting his head up.

"I think so," James grinned. They hadn't known about that little explosion in the face.

"Was it accidental magic?" Rose asked, looking both impressed and incredulous.

"Looks like it," Teddy said, expression mirroring Rose's. "That's – I haven't heard of anybody causing accidental magic two years into Hogwarts. That's… well, kind of amazing, really."

"We knew Dad was good," James said happily.

"**Marge!" squealed Aunt Petunia. "Marge, are you all right?"**

"Who cares," muttered Fred.

"**Not to worry," grunted Aunt Marge, mopping her face with her napkin. "Must have squeezed it too hard. Did the same thing at Colonel Fubster's the other day. No need to fuss, Petunia, I have a very firm grip . . ."**

**But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were both looking at Harry suspiciously, so he decided he'd better skip dessert and escape from the table as soon as he could.**

**Outside in the hall, he leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. It had been a long time since he'd lost control and made something explode. He couldn't afford to let it happen again. The Hogsmeade form wasn't the only thing at stake — if he carried on like that, he'd be in trouble with the Ministry of Magic.**

James winced. He hadn't thought of that.

"I suppose if they thought Dobby's magic was Harry, they won't know if he meant to do that or if it was accidental, will they?" Rose asked.

Teddy doubted it.

"Is Harry gonna get in trouble for that?" Hugo asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Teddy confessed. "Maybe it wasn't accidental magic at all. Maybe it really was just her firm grip…."

James wasn't sure which he wanted it to be. The accidental magic had been wicked, but he didn't want his dad in trouble over a shattered glass. A thought occurred to him then: how _had_ his dad gotten away with blowing up Aunt Marge?

**Harry was still an underage wizard, and he was forbidden by wizard law to do magic outside school. His record wasn't exactly clean either. Only last summer he'd gotten an official warning that had stated quite clearly that if the Ministry got wind of any more magic in Privet Drive, Harry would face expulsion from Hogwarts.**

**He heard the Dursleys leaving the table and hurried upstairs out of the way.**

**Harry got through the next three days by forcing himself to think about his **_**Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare **_**whenever Aunt Marge started on him. **

"Always a good thing to think about," James said approvingly. He usually thought about Quidditch Through the Ages when he had to try to focus on something other than what was in front of him. But usually it was Professor Binns or Dominique, Roxanne, and Lucy yammering on about dress robes or something stupid like that. He didn't know if he had the discipline (or the stomach) to handle someone continually hammering him with insults for a week straight.

**This worked quite well, though it seemed to give him a glazed look, because Aunt Marge started voicing the opinion that he was mentally subnormal.**

James couldn't help but snort. Yeah, that was one of the drawbacks.

**At last, at long last, the final evening of Marge's stay arrived. **

James glanced at his brother and sister. This _had _to be it.

**Aunt Petunia cooked a fancy dinner and Uncle Vernon uncorked several bottles of wine. They got all the way through the soup and the salmon without a single mention of Harry's faults; during the lemon meringue pie, Uncle Vernon bored them all with a long talk about Grunnings, his drill-making company; **

It bored Fred just to hear about.

**then Aunt Petunia made coffee and Uncle Vernon brought out a bottle of brandy.**

"**Can I tempt you, Marge?"**

**Aunt Marge had already had quite a lot of wine. Her huge face was very red.**

"Most people say stupid things when they're drunk," Rose said tentatively. "I'm afraid to hear what will come out of _her _mouth."

"**Just a small one, then," she chuckled. "A bit more than that . . . and a bit more . . . that's the ticket."**

"Yeah, small," Fred muttered, rolling his eyes.

**Dudley was eating his fourth slice of pie. Aunt Petunia was sipping coffee with her little finger sticking out. Harry really wanted to disappear into his bedroom, but he met Uncle Vernon's angry little eyes and knew he would have to sit it out.**

"Again, I ask why," Hugo said slightly exasperatedly. "If they don't like each other, and Harry's uncle doesn't want something to slip, why would he force them to be in the same room all the time?"

"To make Dad miserable," Albus answered with that dispassionate tone he had acquired when talking about the Dursleys and how they treated his father.

"**Aah," said Aunt Marge, smacking her lips and putting the empty brandy glass back down. "Excellent nosh, Petunia. It's normally just a fry-up for me of an evening, with twelve dogs to look after. . . ." She burped richly and patted her great tweed stomach. "Pardon me. But I do like to see a healthy-sized boy," she went on, winking at Dudley. **

"There is nothing about Dudley at that moment that's healthy," Rose said tartly.

"**You'll be a proper-sized man, Dudders, like your father. Yes, I'll have a spot more brandy, Vernon. . . ."**

"**Now, this one here —"**

**She jerked her head at Harry, who felt his stomach clench. **

As did most of the group listening, preparing themselves to grind their teeth through another rant about how terrible every aspect of Harry was. Those who were in on the outcome of this evening felt it could not come quickly enough.

_**The Handbook**_**, he thought quickly.**

"**This one's got a mean, runty look about him. You get that with dogs. **

"Or with kids you half-starve," Albus ground out furiously.

**I had Colonel Fubster drown one last year. Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Underbred."**

"Did she just suggest that Harry should have been drowned?" Teddy asked in a dangerous sort of voice.

"Not in so many words," Rose breathed, feeling a fury beginning to pound in her ears.

Lily was wide-eyed once more and Hugo looked shocked. Albus closed his eyes, looking pained, but James plodded on angrily, determined to get to the consequences of Aunt Marge's verbal attack.

**Harry was trying to remember page twelve of his book: **_**A Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers.**_

"**It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. **

James let the book fall open on his lap, tipping his head back to look up at the sky and take in a breath. The words tasted bitter in his mouth. That woman was not only talking about his father, but of his grandparents, who had died so that _she _wouldn't be hunted, of himself and his brother and sister. It was not as easy as his father always made it sound when he told James to ignore what other people said about him and not let it get to him.

"Want me to read?" Fred offered.

"No," James said as calmly as he could. "I deserve the end of this chapter after reading all this."

**Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia" — she patted Aunt Petunia's bony hand with her shovellike one — "but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best families. Then she ran off with a wastrel and here's the result right in front of us."**

"That –" Rose was nearly spitting, eyes flaming, but Albus laid a hand on her arm.

She looked at him with a mixture of confusion and indignation. Why wasn't he about to hit the roof too? But then she realized that he was. Albus may be sitting perfectly still and silent, his eyes fixed on a pebble a foot away, but he was anything but calm beneath that. And her rather explosive reaction was not helping him. Albus dug his fingers into her forearm and she attempted to bottle up the rage that anyone should have to listen to that.

**Harry was staring at his plate, a funny ringing in his ears. **_**Grasp your broom firmly by the tail, **_**he thought. But he couldn't remember**__**what came next. Aunt Marge's voice seemed to be boring into him**__**like one of Uncle Vernon's drills.**

"**This Potter," said Aunt Marge loudly, seizing the brandy bottle and splashing more into her glass and over the tablecloth, "you never told me what he did?"**

James was caught off guard. What _had _his grandfather done? But it was not enough of a distraction to silence the ringing that was starting in his own ears.

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were looking extremely tense. Dudley had even looked up from his pie to gape at his parents.**

"**He — didn't work," said Uncle Vernon, with half a glance at Harry. "Unemployed."**

James would have loved to shout 'liar!', but he wasn't sure if it was a lie or not.

"**As I expected!" said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. "A no-account, good-fornothing, lazy scrounger who —"**

"**He was not," said Harry suddenly. The table went very quiet.**

"You tell her, Dad," James growled. Those three words from his father were enough to ease the build-up of fury inside him. Someone was saying what he longed to be screaming at Marge Dursley.

**Harry was shaking all over. He had never felt so angry in his life.**

Memories of the few brief times Teddy had glimpsed fury on his godfather's face made him feel that this image was rather more impressive on that particular thirteen-year-old than on most. He did not want to be in Aunt Marge's place just then.

"**MORE BRANDY!" yelled Uncle Vernon, who had gone very white. He emptied the bottle into Aunt Marge's glass. **

"Like that'll help," Rose bit out.

"**You, boy," he snarled at Harry. "Go to bed, go on —"**

"Now you catch on," Hugo muttered, rolling his eyes.

"**No, Vernon," hiccuped Aunt Marge, holding up a hand, her tiny bloodshot eyes fixed on Harry's. "Go on, boy, go on. Proud of your parents, are you?**

"Damn straight," James said under his breath.

**They go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I expect) —"**

There were furious outbursts at this lie, but James read over them.

"**They didn't die in a car crash!" said Harry, who found himself on his feet.**

"**They died in a car crash, you nasty little liar, and left you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives!" **

"Them? Decent?" Fred snarled, but James read over him, the words he had been waiting to read all chapter rushing swiftly towards him.

**screamed Aunt Marge, swelling with fury. "You are an insolent, ungrateful little —"**

**But Aunt Marge suddenly stopped speaking. For a moment, it looked as though words had failed her. She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger — **

Albus and Lily had both fixed their eyes on the book, and, despite the anger still bubbling in him, James couldn't keep the wicked smirk off his face. The others looked from the Potters to the book, wondering (or slowly realizing) what was coming.

**but the swelling didn't stop. **

James read each word with relish, the smirk widening.

**Her great red face started to expand, her tiny eyes bulged, and her mouth stretched too tightly for speech — **

"Thank god!" Fred cheered, letting out a laugh.

The others' expressions were rapidly changing from outrage to glee.

**next second, several buttons had just burst from her tweed jacket and pinged off the walls — she was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a salami —**

"_That _is definitely accidental magic," Teddy whistled as Fred and Hugo high fived.

"**MARGE!" yelled Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia together as Aunt Marge's whole body began to rise off her chair toward the ceiling. She was entirely round, now, like a vast life buoy with piggy eyes, and her hands and feet stuck out weirdly as she drifted up into the air, making apoplectic popping noises. **

James accentuated 'apoplectic popping' with his own popping noises, which had Lily and Hugo giggling madly and the rest snorting with laughter.

"He _inflated _her," Rose said faintly, and then she burst out laughing.

Scorpius and Albus exchanged looks over her head and followed her example. Even Teddy was silently shaking with laughter, though it had a more vindictive edge to it than real mirth.

"I don't believe it," Fred chortled. "Uncle Harry blew someone up!"

Reading about it was almost better than hearing his father and Dudley rehash their memories of the event. There was so much detail that James could imagine the woman inflating before his eyes and it made him grin all the harder, but he kept reading.

**Ripper came skidding into the room, barking madly.**

"**NOOOOOOO!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized one of Marge's feet and tried to pull her down again, but was almost lifted from the floor himself. A second later, Ripper leapt forward and sank his teeth into Uncle Vernon's leg.**

Fred cracked up again.

"Go Ripper!" James felt the need to cheer.

Albus reflected that having that dog around wasn't such a bad thing after all.

**Harry tore from the dining room before anyone could stop him, heading for the cupboard under the stairs. The cupboard door burst magically open as he reached it. In seconds, he had heaved his trunk to the front door. **

"He's leaving," Lily realized sobering up a bit with the rest at this realization.

"Thank Merlin," Hugo muttered.

"But where's he going to go?" Rose asked, chewing the inside of her cheek anxiously. "Mum and Dad are both abroad…."

"Well he can hardly stay there after what happened," James pointed out.

He had not heard this part of the story either. He hadn't wondered what had happened _after _the amazing stunt of inflating a horrible aunt.

**He sprinted upstairs and threw himself under the bed, wrenching up the loose floorboard, and grabbed the pillowcase full of his books and birthday presents. He wriggled out, seized Hedwig's empty cage, and dashed back downstairs to his trunk, just as Uncle Vernon burst out of the dining room, his trouser leg in bloody tatters.**

"**COME BACK IN HERE!" he bellowed. "COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT!"**

"Get out, Dad," Albus said tensely, suddenly remembering the image of his enraged great uncle bearing down on his father in the last book. And that had just been for smashing a pudding.

**But a reckless rage had come over Harry. He kicked his trunk open, pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Uncle Vernon.**

"Not that I condone jinxing Muggles, but it's about time this happened," Teddy said bitterly.

He was glad, like the rest, to see Harry fight back. That was the man Teddy knew now.

"**She deserved it," Harry said, breathing very fast. **

"Yes, she did," Albus said in a low, forceful voice.

"**She deserved what she got. You keep away from me."**

Teddy swallowed, willing Vernon Dursley to head that warning. He was fairly certain that if Harry's uncle got hold of him now, whether due to panic and accident or intent, Harry would end up hurt.

But he had his wand, Teddy reminded himself. Harry had faced Lord Voldemort with less than a wand and had survived. Three times. But Voldemort was arrogant and boastful. Vernon Dursley was not going to allow time for Harry to escape.

**He fumbled behind him for the latch on the door.**

"**I'm going," Harry said. "I've had enough."**

"So have we," Albus muttered.

**And in the next moment, he was out in the dark, quiet street, heaving his heavy trunk behind him, Hedwig's cage under his arm.**

James ended on a dramatic note, closing the book and laying it down in front of him.

"Is it too much to hope that he really has left for good?" Fred asked.

"Sadly, it is too much to hope for," James answered gloomily. "He didn't get out until he was seventeen."

"Four more years," Albus mumbled.

"But he's gone for another year, right?" Lily piped up. "Dad won't have to go back to them?"

"If he does, I might just pitch this book in the river," James growled. "God, that woman! Dad didn't mention all the crap she was spewing when we were eavesdropping."

"How could she say those things about Dad's parents?" Lily demanded, eyes blazing. "She hadn't even met them, had she? And say right to Dad's face that he was a waste of space!"

"She's a bitch," James said, as if that explained everything. "And now there are new rules of breeding," he added, grinning suddenly. "If there's something wrong with the bitch, she gets blown up."

"That was great, wasn't it?" Fred managed to say as he dissolved into laughter again.

The group enjoyed the fate of Margery Dursley a bit longer. It was the easiest way to stop from blowing up with all the rage her comments had incited in them all. No kid – especially someone who had put up with as much crap (not to mention saved the world a few times) as Harry had – deserved to be verbally abused like that.

Albus and Lily seemed to be satisfied with this retelling of the story, but James felt oddly unsettled by it. The actual blowing up of Aunt Marge was brilliant, but the rest, how Harry had been driven to that point and what happened afterwards, they were much less comical bits. He had never thought about the reality of that story. Only the glorious part where his father did something incredibly cool, like in most of the stories he heard. All the harry details - like how a thirteen-year-old had been forced to endure a week of verbal abuse to be driven to that, and then ended up out on the street because of it – had been glossed over and ignored.

Was that what it was like with so many of the things they had managed to get out of their parents. Was Rose even a little bit right with what she said about Sirius?

**A/N: Hey! Whew, done. A lot of you said you were looking forward to this chapter. That always makes us nervous. Did we do it justice? Was it everything you imagined? :D Ok, done talking! Thanks for reading! **


	3. The Knight Bus

**Disclaimer: We are NOT JK Rowling. Neither one of us. As much as we might wish we were, we are not. **

**A/N: So… we're back! :D Sorry it's been so long. Writers' block got us for his one :\. But now it's finished and we hope you like it! Oh, by the way, OVER 100 REVIEWS AFTER TWO CHAPTERS? THANK YOU SO MUCH! Ah, you guys are all wonderful, wonderful people! **

Chapter Three

The Knight Bus

"I'll read the next chapter," Scorpius offered.

The information that he was related to Sirius Black had opened up a flood of curiosity in him. Who was this man that he had heard nothing about? Who seemed to be so important to Al's family? He had assumed that the only things he would find out about his family through these books was how terrible they had been during the war and (though his hopes were growing slimmer with each book, it seemed) what had brought about the change of heart.

But Sirius Black was something entirely unexpected. Scorpius was used to hearing claims that he was related to people who should have been in Azkaban, but weren't. Never before had he had a relative who shouldn't have been in Azkaban but was.

**Chapter Three**

**The Knight Bus**

"Looks like Uncle Harry is about to discover the wizarding world's finest mode of transportation," Fred snickered.

**Harry was several streets away before he collapsed onto a low wall in Magnolia Crescent, panting from the effort of dragging his trunk. He sat quite still, anger still surging through him, listening to the frantic thumping of his heart.**

**But after ten minutes alone in the dark street, a new emotion overtook him: panic. Whichever way he looked at it, he had never been in a worse fix. **

"Erm, does wandlessly facing Lord Voldemort and a giant snake ring a bell?" James asked incredulously.

**He was stranded, quite alone, in the dark Muggle world, with absolutely nowhere to go. And the worst of it was, he had just done serious magic, which meant that he was almost certainly expelled from Hogwarts. **

"Well, as far as non-life-threatening scrapes go, that is pretty bad," Albus conceded.

**He had broken the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry so badly, he was surprised Ministry of Magic representatives weren't swooping down on him where he sat.**

"They probably aren't far behind," Teddy agreed.

**Harry shivered and looked up and down Magnolia Crescent. What was going to happen to him? Would he be arrested, or would he simply be outlawed from the wizarding world? **

Teddy smiled in spite of himself. "There's that dramatic flair we've been missing."

"He really was pessimistic," Albus observed.

"He didn't know very much about wizarding law at the time," Rose defended.

"He knew Hagrid was expelled," James pointed out. "And for something way worse than accidental magic."

"But Hagrid was framed," Lily reminded the group, acid still in her voice from the injustice of it all.

"I suppose we can't really blame him for freaking out," Teddy sighed. "Not after that…"

**He thought of Ron and Hermione, and his heart sank even lower. **

"Why?" Hugo asked, caught off guard. He couldn't see why thoughts of his parents would upset his uncle this summer.

**Harry was sure that, criminal or not, Ron and Hermione would want to help him now, **

"Of course they would!" Hugo said forcefully.

**but they were both abroad, and with Hedwig gone, he had no means of contacting them.**

"Oh, right."

"So what's Dad gonna do?" Lily asked, biting her lip anxiously.

"Well I was thinking get on the Knight bus, but I don't really know where I'm getting that idea," Fred said innocently.

Lily rolled her eyes at him. "And what? Ride around England for a month."

Albus grimaced at the thought. The only time he'd ever been on the Knight bus, he'd been sick. On the shoes of the conductor. Who also happened to be an old friend and admirer of his father's. Extreme public embarrassment, check.

But no one was paying attention to Albus's inner cringing at the memory.

"If he's sensible, he'll probably get a room at the Leaky Cauldron or in Hogsmeade," Teddy was saying.

**He didn't have any Muggle money, either. There was a little wizard gold in the money bag at the bottom of his trunk, but the rest of the fortune his parents had left him was stored in a vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in London. He'd never be able to drag his trunk all the way to London. Unless . . .**

"Unless he Hulks out!" Hugo cried, laughing madly.

The rest looked at him, some with mild concern.

After a moment, Hugo noticed their expressions.

"Erm, Muggle comics, remember? No? Never mind," he muttered, turning pink.

**He looked down at his wand, which he was still clutching in his hand. If he was already expelled (his heart was now thumping painfully fast), a bit more magic couldn't hurt. **

"Actually it could," Rose muttered, legal brain already buzzing from long afternoons spent in her mother's office. "If Dumbledore swings him an appeal, he could get Dobby to testify for the first warning and –"

Scorpius, accustomed to Rose going off on tangents like this, read over her.

**He had the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father — what if he bewitched the trunk to make it feather-light, tied it to his broomstick, covered himself in the cloak, and flew to London? **

"And lost a precious family heirloom in the process," James couldn't help but point out. "There's no way the cloak will stay on while you're flying."

"He speaks from experience," Fred told the group with a snicker.

James elbowed him in the ribs, but Albus looked suspicious.

"James what would you know about the weekend my cloak went missing?" he asked.

"Nothing whatsoever, dear brother," James said loftily, avoiding Al's eyes.

Albus was about to press for more details, but considered Fred's snickers and thought maybe he didn't want to know.

**Then he could get the rest of his money out of his vault and . . . begin his life as an outcast. **

There were some snorts at the thought of Harry Potter being an outcast.

"Like I was saying about dramatic flair," said Teddy.

**It was a horrible prospect, but he couldn't sit on this wall forever, or he'd find himself trying to explain to Muggle police why he was out in the dead of night with a trunkful of spellbooks and a broomstick.**

"I'm sure they see _that _all the time," Fred said unconcernedly.

**Harry opened his trunk again and pushed the contents aside, looking for the Invisibility Cloak — **

"He's really thinking about trying it," James said, blinking.  
>It had been amusing to listen to his father's imagination run away, but it hadn't really crossed his mind that Harry really thought this was his only option. All over some accidental magic. His perspective of the magical world was still fairly off kilter in situations like this. It was strange.<p>

**but before he had found it, he straightened up suddenly, looking around him once more.**

**A funny prickling on the back of his neck had made Harry feel he was being watched, but the street appeared to be deserted, and no lights shone from any of the large square houses.**

Teddy tensed on reflex. Harry's instincts were exceptionally sharp.

The others, sensing the shift in Teddy's posture, looked a bit nervous too.

**He bent over his trunk again, but almost immediately stood up once more, his hand clenched on his wand. **

All eyes were now fixed on the book.

**He had sensed rather than heard it: someone or something was standing in the narrow gap between the garage and the fence behind him. **

Lily and Hugo exchanged wide-eyed looks and Albus felt a shiver run up his spine

**Harry squinted at the black alleyway. If only it would move, then he'd know whether it was just a stray cat or — something else.**

"What exactly is _something else_?" Albus asked, gulping.

Teddy shook his head. "With your dad it could be anything."

He was suddenly keenly aware that there must be a good number of people after the blood of The-Boy-Who-Lived, even when he was still a kid. He remembered Lucius Malfoy's threats from the end of the last book with a twinge of nervousness.

"_**Lumos,**_**" Harry muttered, and a light appeared at the end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it high over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number two suddenly sparkled; the garage door gleamed, and between them Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming eyes.**

"What is it?" Lily squeaked.

Scorpius just kept reading.

**Harry stepped backward. His legs hit his trunk and he tripped. His wand flew out of his hand **

Teddy could not help but groan a little here. He wished again that he could fasten Harry's wand in his hand with a permanent sticking charm in the book.

**as he flung out an arm to break his fall, and he landed, hard, in the gutter —**

**There was a deafening BANG, and Harry threw up his hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding light —**

"The Knight Bus to the rescue!" Fred sang.

**With a yell, he rolled back onto the pavement, just in time. A second later, a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt exactly where Harry had just been lying. **

"Or almost run him over," Rose said, cringing as she imagined being caught beneath those tires.

**They belonged, as Harry saw when he raised his head, to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled **_**The Knight Bus.**_

"That makes it sound a lot more impressive than it is," Rose noted, thinking of the jerky, swaying monstrosity that she had only ever ridden twice before.

"I'm sure it looks more impressive from the ground," Fred pointed out. "Right next to it's massive, bone-crushing tires."

**For a split second, Harry wondered if he had been knocked silly by his fall.**

Rose's lips twitched. Yeah, it must be quite a sight to somebody who didn't have any idea it existed until it nearly ran them over.

**Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night.**

"**Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, **

Albus groaned softly, flushing in embarrassment. James smirked wickedly.

"Hey, Al, it's your old _chum_."

"Shut up, James!"

Scorpius looked curiously between Al and his brother. Rose nudged him to get him to keep reading. Having spent enough time around Albus and James to recognize an explosion coming, he complied.

**and I will be your conductor this eve —"**

**The conductor stopped abruptly. He had just caught sight of Harry, who was still sitting on the ground. Harry snatched up his wand again and scrambled to his feet. Close up, he saw that Stan Shunpike was only a few years older than he was, eighteen or nineteen at most, with large, protruding ears and quite a few pimples.**

"See, Al, it wasn't _really _your fault," Lily said, turning to her brother. "He sounds like the sort of bloke luck would do that to anyway."

"Nah, I think Al's just the sort of bloke luck likes to do things like that to," James contradicted.

"What are you lot going on about?" Fred asked, confused.

James opened his mouth gleefully to relay the story, but Teddy cut him off.

"Leave him alone, James. He was only eight."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hugo asked indignantly, partially to take the focus off his flaming cousin and partially because he had eight only a year and a half before.

Teddy just winked at him and ruffled his flaming hair and Scorpius kept reading, even though he wanted to hear the story of Al the Stan Shunpike too.

"**What were you doin' down there?" said Stan, dropping his professional manner.**

"**Fell over," said Harry.**

" '**Choo fall over for?" sniggered Stan.**

"He just thought it looked like fun," Fred snickered

"**I didn't do it on purpose," said Harry, annoyed. One of the knees in his jeans was torn, and the hand he had thrown out to break his fall was bleeding. He suddenly remembered why he had fallen over and turned around quickly to stare at the alleyway between the garage and fence. **

Teddy frowned, remembering the beast that seemed to have been stalking Harry. He wouldn't put it past Lucius Malfoy to keep a couple things like that locked up in his cellar. He'd heard some nasty stories about the man. But he didn't like to voice his suspicions around Scorpius.

**The Knight Bus's headlamps were flooding it with light, and it was empty.**

Lily looked relieved. It was too early in the school year for Harry to find himself in a life-threatening situation.

" '**Choo lookin' at?" said Stan.**

"The huge, fire-breathing clown that was obviously just in that alley," Fred said, rolling his eyes. "What _else _has shining eyes?"

Rose shuddered at the mention of clowns while James rounded on Fred with an incredulous look.

"Fred, that's completely ridiculous. It was _obviously _a pink bull-elephant on roller-skates. How else could it have gotten away so quickly?"

Scorpius decided just to read over Fred and James's increasingly-heated debate over the attributes of fire-breathing clowns and pink elephants after Lily jumped in with the suggestion that the thing with shining eyes had really been Marsian frog operating a robot suit.

"**There was a big black thing," said Harry, pointing uncertainly into the gap. "Like a dog . . . but massive . . ."**

The three theorists looked disappointed, though James pointed out smugly that his guess had been closest. Lily contradicted, insisting that it could have been black dog _robot_, and therefore she might still be right.

But Teddy was suddenly grinning. "Sorry, Lil, but I think my guess is closer."

"What d'you think it was?"

"My bet is Sirius."

Everyone except Scorpius exchanged excited looks, Lily, Fred, and James quite forgetting their guesses.

"Er… you did hear me say _dog, _right?" Scorpius felt the need to confirm, looking on in bewilderment.

"Yep," Albus grinned.

"He was an animagus," Teddy explained, taking pity on the boy who was always left out of the loop. "And I guess the first thing he wanted to do after breaking out was see his godson."

The thought made him smile. He remembered Harry – dead on his feet and scraped up – stopping of at his grandmother's house to see Teddy after long missions, often in the middle of the night and before he even made it home, just to tell him he'd kept his promise and made it home on time.

**He looked around at Stan, whose mouth was slightly open. With a feeling of unease, Harry saw Stan's eyes move to the scar on Harry's forehead.**

"**Woss that on your 'ead?" said Stan abruptly.**

"Very polite," Lily said a bit snippily. She knew her father didn't like people staring at his scar.

"**Nothing," said Harry quickly, flattening his hair over his scar. If the Ministry of Magic was looking for him, he didn't want to make it too easy for them.**

"He's sure taking this fugitive thing seriously," Rose said amusedly.

"**Woss your name?" Stan persisted.**

"**Neville Longbottom," said Harry, saying the first name that came into his head. **

Several people snorted with laughter.

"Wonder if Neville knows Dad used his name on the run from the law," Albus mused, grinning.

"**So — so this bus," he went on quickly, hoping to distract Stan, "did you say it goes **_**anywhere**_**?"**

"**Yep," said Stan proudly, "anywhere you like, long's it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater. **

"Well that's inconvenient," Fred said. "No wonder you never run into anybody from Atlantis. The comute must be killer."

'**Ere," he said, looking suspicious again, "you **_**did **_**flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand 'and, dincha?"**

"So you don't have to even be _meaning _to flag down the bus to get it?" Hugo asked. "That seems like it would end in a lot of accidents."

"Yeah, I mean I practice flailing my arms around all the time! Little did _I _know it might get me run over," Fred said indignantly.

He demonstrated the activity, making James and Hugo duck to avoid being smacked by his flying limbs before finally flinging his right hand out dramatically. Fred looked disappointed when no purple bus appeared.

"I think you have to be on a road," Rose told him.

"But that's the best _place _to practice," Fred pretended to pout. "Passers-by think you're crazy. It's great fun."

"**Yes," said Harry quickly. "Listen, how much would it be to get to London?"**

"**Eleven Sickles," said Stan, "but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice."**

"A waste of money unless you're into hot chocolate all over your lap and toothbrushes down your throat," Hugo muttered, thinking of how he could barely stay upright inside that bus.

"What d'you mean?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"Haven't you ever been on the Knight bus?" Lily asked. Even she had that one time, and her father had all kinds of connections at the ministry for magical travel.

Scorpius shook his head. His father detested 'common' travel as he called it. He'd sooner walk than ride the bus.

"Oh, you have to!" Hugo grinned. "We should take it into London and go to the shop before you go home, Scorpius!"

Taken aback at the younger boy's enthusiastic invitation, Scorpius nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds cool."

"No it doesn't," Albus muttered. "You aren't getting me back on that thing for anything."

Hugo looked apologetic. He loved the knight bus and the way it jumped all over the place, almost like riding a rollercoaster. He wanted to show it off to his sister's friend.

**Harry rummaged once more in his trunk, extracted his money bag, and shoved some gold into Stan's hand. He and Stan then lifted his trunk, with Hedwig's cage balanced on top, up the steps of the bus.**

**There were no seats; instead, half a dozen brass bedsteads stood beside the curtained windows. **

"Cool!" Hugo exclaimed, over ever having traveled on the bus by day.

**Candles were burning in brackets beside each bed, illuminating the wood-paneled walls. A tiny wizard in a nightcap at the rear of the bus muttered, "Not now, thanks, I'm pickling some slugs" and rolled over in his sleep.**

"Can't let those slugs go un-pickled," Fred said very seriously.

Hugo and Lily giggled.

"**You 'ave this one," Stan whispered, shoving Harry's trunk under the bed right behind the driver, who was sitting in an armchair in front of the steering wheel. "This is our driver, Ernie Prang. This is Neville Longbottom, Ern."**

James grinned a little bit. It was strange to have his father referred to by Neville's name.

**Ernie Prang, an elderly wizard wearing very thick glasses, nodded to Harry, who nervously flattened his bangs again and sat down on his bed.**

"**Take 'er away, Ern," said Stan, sitting down in the armchair next to Ernie's.**

Albus squeezed his eyes shut as if he really were sitting on the bus. The real Stan's voice saying that echoed in his head and could feel the blood rushing in his cheeks just remembering.

**There was another tremendous BANG, and the next moment Harry found himself flat on his bed, thrown backward by the speed of the Knight Bus. **

Hugo had quite the opposite reaction to his cousin's, seeming excited just to hear about it.

Scorpius didn't know if this made him want to read the Knight bus less or more.

**Pulling himself up, Harry stared out of the dark window and saw that they were now bowling along completely different street. Stan was watching Harry's stunned face with great enjoyment.**

"**This is where we was before you flagged us down," he said. "Where are we, Ern? Somewhere in Wales?"**

"**Ar," said Ernie.**

"**How come the Muggles don't hear the bus?" said Harry. **

"**Them!" said Stan contemptuously. **

Rose raised an eyebrow at the tone of Stan's voice. Did he have a problem with Muggles? She thought she remembered seeing his name on a list of Death Eaters who had been tried…. He had been cleared on the basis of bewitchment. She didn't believe that this pimply, big-eared teenager could be a vicious Death Eater.

"**Don' listen properly, do they? Don' look properly either. Never notice nuffink, they don'."**

"**Best go wake up Madam Marsh, Stan," said Ern. "We'll be in Abergavenny in a minute."**

Rose got the impression that Ernie Prang was interrupting Stan's comments purposefully.

**Stan passed Harry's bed and disappeared up a narrow wooden staircase. Harry was still looking out of the window, feeling increasingly nervous. Ernie didn't seem to have mastered the use of a steering wheel. **

"Don't think he ever will," Hugo said fondly, but Albus grimaced.

**The Knight Bus kept mounting the pavement, but it didn't hit anything; lines of lampposts, mailboxes, and trash cans jumped out of its way as it approached and back into position once it had passed.**

**Stan came back downstairs, followed by a faintly green witch wrapped in a traveling cloak.**

"Can't blame her," Albus muttered.

" '**Ere you go, Madam Marsh," said Stan happily as Ern stamped on the brake and the beds slid a foot or so toward the front of the bus. Madam Marsh clamped a handkerchief to her mouth and tottered down the steps. **

James smirked at Albus but, catching Teddy's eye, didn't comment.

**Stan threw her bag out after her and rammed the doors shut; there was another loud BANG, and they were thundering down a narrow country lane, trees leaping out of the way. **

**Harry wouldn't have been able to sleep even if he had been traveling on a bus that didn't keep banging loudly and jumping a hundred miles at a time. His stomach churned as he fell back to wondering what was going to happen to him, and whether the Dursleys had managed to get Aunt Marge off the ceiling yet.**

"That could be an amusing thing to wonder about," Fred laughed.

**Stan had unfurled a copy of the **_**Daily Prophet **_**and was now reading with his tongue between his teeth. A large photograph of a sunken-faced man with long, matted hair blinked slowly at Harry from the front page. He looked strangely familiar.**

"Must be Sirius," James muttered.

"**That man!" Harry said, forgetting his troubles for a moment. "He was on the Muggle news!"**

**Stanley turned to the front page and chuckled.**

"**Sirius Black," he said, nodding. " 'Course 'e was on the Muggle news, Neville, where you been?"**

"You don't want to know," Teddy muttered darkly.

**He gave a superior sort of chuckle at the blank look on Harry's face, removed the front page, and handed it to Harry.**

"**You oughta read the papers more, Neville."**

**Harry held the paper up to the candlelight and read:**

**BLACK STILL AT LARGE**

**Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.**

James looked highly impressed by this.

"He was the first person _ever _to escape," he said smugly. "And the only one to do it without outside help, Dad says."

Scorpius read on hungrily

"**We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to**

**remain calm."**

**Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.**

"**Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it — who'd believe him if he did?"**

"Mum says the magical and Muggle communities should have more contact," Rose informed them. "She thinks if the Prime Minister understood our world better, if the governments, at least, could interact, things could be better."

"I'm going to be a Muggle lazing," Hugo announced importantly.

"It's _liaison_," his sister corrected, "and I thought you were going to work with Grandad?"

Hugo looked torn as he remembered his plans, but then his face split in a wide smile. "I'm going to do _both_."

Rose shook her head fondly.

**While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), **

"It's nothing like a wand," Rose said indignantly.

"Then what is it?" Scorpius asked, puzzled.

"It's a weapon that fires a little ball of lead with enough force to rip a hole right through your body," she explained with distaste.

"Oh," Scorpius said, blinking. It sounded rather barbaric to him. At least the killing curse left people unharmed. Er, aside from the fact that it killed them. But then again, maybe masking death in that calm, simple _end _wasn't so great either.

Not particularly desirous to continue this morbid tangent, he returned to the book.

**the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.**

Scorpius registered the irony of that being the next sentence he read before the words sank in.

"He was accused of killing thirteen people?" he asked, looking around at the group.

None of them – not even Rose (for the files she'd read had only referred to the charges as 'passed crimes' and there had been no original trial) seemed to have known what Sirius had been acused of. Lily and Hugo were once more wide-eyed, Teddy was chewing his lip pensively, Fred looked mildly incredulous, and Albus was looking quickly between his brother and Rose.

James looked rather shocked. In all honesty, he had never wondered _why _Sirius had been imprisoned in the first place. It was just a cool story about his namesake. That he had been wrongly punished, escaped, and come to find his father and fight in the war. And even if he had been made to guess, he would never have thought Sirius had been accused of _murder _of _massacre_. He had assumed, knowing all about the Blacks' dark reputation, that Sirius had just been accused of aiding Voldemort. He was named after an accused murderer? An innocent one, but still…. The name felt different to him, now.

Rose was feeling guilty. When she had insinuated that Sirius had, perhaps, done something to make people suspect him, even if he wasn't guilty, she had been thinking, like, meeting with the darker of his relatives. No matter what someone did to get away, family was still family after all. But she had, in essence, been accusing him of _killing _people. Whatever she thought of Sirius Black, she did not believe him capable of murder, nor did she even want to _accuse _him of taking someone else's life. She was Harry's godfather after all. And perhaps he didn't have the clearest picture of the man, fogged with emotional memories as it was, but she could tell that her uncle had cared a great deal about him.

She snuck a look at James, expecting to see a scorching, righteous, what-have-you-got-to-say-for-yourself-now sort of look aimed right at her. But he seemed too wrapped up in his own absorption of this news to force anything out of her.

Scorpius, deciding that he wasn't likely going to get any information out of the others about Sirius and his crimes, looked back down at the book.

**Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part of the sunken face that seemed alive. Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen pictures of them in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked just like one.**

"**Scary-lookin' fing, inee?" said Stan, who had been watching Harry read.**

"He was," Teddy murmured, having seen pictures of Sirius after Azkaban.

His grandmother's family was generally blessed with the untouchable sort of good looks. A deadly beauty, his grandmother had once said, that masked the pure hideousness of the soul in many cases. She had been thinking specifically of her older sister at that point.

"**He murdered **_**thirteen people**_**?" said Harry, handing the page back to Stan, "with **_**one curse**_**?"**

Scorpius understood Harry's shock. He had a lot of relatives accused of terrible things. Most of them were guilty too. The others said Sirius was innocent, but his first reflex upon hearing what he had been accused of was just like all the others: shame. He wanted to know Sirius's whole story. He wanted a relative he could be really proud of.

"**Yep," said Stan, "in front of witnesses an' all. Broad daylight. Big trouble it caused, dinnit, Ern?"**

"With witnesses," Rose murmured faintly. Sirius couldn't have killed all those people, but how could a load of witnesses have such solid evidence that the court couldn't wave it? Something was off here. She was missing too many pieces.

James stared fixedly at a blade of grass, somewhere in the back of his mind thinking that Rose _had _had a point when she said Sirius must have done _something _to get accused in the first place.

"**Ar," said Ern darkly.**

**Stan swiveled in his armchair, his hands on the back, the better to look at Harry.**

"**Black woz a big supporter of You-Know-'Oo," he said.**

"I knew people thought that," Teddy said quietly. His grandmother had told him that much, how so many of her family had been tried (or not tried) on charges like that. Both of her sisters, several of her cousins….

"**What, Voldemort?" said Harry, without thinking.**

**Even Stan's pimples went white; Ern jerked the steering wheel so hard that a whole farmhouse had to jump aside to avoid the bus.**

"**You outta your tree?" yelped Stan. " 'Choo say 'is name for?"**

James rolled his eyes. "It's just a name. Really, these people need to get over it."

"It's more than a name to them," Teddy pointed out.

"No, it's not," James insisted. "Voldemort did a lot of awful things, but his _name _is just a word. His _name _isn't going to hurt them. They're just adding to his power to be afraid of it."

"**Sorry," said Harry hastily. "Sorry, I — I forgot —"**

"**Forgot!" said Stan weakly. "Blimey, my 'eart's goin' that fast . . ."**

"**So — so Black was a supporter of You-Know-Who?" Harry prompted apologetically.**

"**Yeah," said Stan, still rubbing his chest. "Yeah, that's right. Very close to You-Know-'Oo, they say. Anyway, when little 'Arry Potter got the better of You-Know-'Oo —"**

Lily scrunched up her face upon hearing her father called 'little Harry Potter'. It was very strange to think about, even if she was reading about his childhood.

**Harry nervously flattened his bangs down again.**

"— **all You-Know-'Oo's supporters was tracked down, wasn't they, Ern? Most of 'em knew it was all over, wiv You-Know-'Oo gone, and they came quiet. But not Sirius Black. I 'eard he thought 'e'd be second-in-command once You-Know-'Oo 'ad taken over.**

Second in command? Rose had assumed he'd gotten entangled with his cousin or brother (both of whom appeared in court files), but so high up? She looked at James again, but he still wasn't giving her the expected accusing look. She decided she'd have to say something anyway.

"James, I didn't know what he was accused of. I'm sorry, I wouldn't have said he gave people reason to accuse him if I'd known –"

"But he must have," James interrupted, still not looking at her. "I mean, why else would people think he'd done all these awful things if he hadn't given them _some _reason to believe it? I don't think he killed anybody, but…"

The others looked on in astonishment. Not only had Rose attempted to humble herself to James, he had skipped over an opportunity to rub her face in it and actually admitted she might have had a point. Missing this, the pair of them both looked up reflexively at Teddy to give final jurisdiction on the matter.

Teddy, however, was frowning, looking as wrong-footed as they felt with this new information about Harry's godfather.

"I s'pose we'll just have to wait and hear the whole story," he said when he saw the others looking at him.

So Scorpius kept reading.

"**Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a street full of Muggles an' Black took out 'is wand and 'e blasted 'alf the street apart, an' a wizard got it, an' so did a dozen Muggles what got in the way. **

James couldn't quite see how that story could end with Sirius innocent. Not if they were surrounded by witnesses.

'**Orrible, eh? An' you know what Black did then?" Stan continued in a dramatic whisper.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**Laughed**_**," said Stan. "Jus' stood there an' laughed. An' when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, 'e went wiv**

'**em quiet as anyfink, still laughing 'is 'ead off. 'Cos 'e's mad, inee, Ern? Inee mad?"**

"You'd think he'd fight if he were innocent," James said miserably.

"Maybe not," Albus tried to comfort his brother. "Maybe it just means… well, he couldn't see a way out of it, like we can't."

James gave Albus a dubious look.

"He didn't kill anybody," Teddy said firmly, looking right at James. "This is just Stan Shunpike gossiping. We don't know the whole story yet."

"I know," James muttered. "But it just looks bad. I just want to know how he got into this position in the first place."

Teddy wanted to know that too. In fact, they all did.

"**If he weren't when he went to Azkaban, he will be now," said Ern in his slow voice. "I'd blow meself up before I set foot in that place. Serves him right, mind you . . . after what he did. . . ."**

Albus wondered if that was true, what damage Azkaban had done to Sirius. From what his father had told him, Sirius was perfectly sane, but surely twelve years of prison had left their mark.

"**They 'ad a job coverin' it up, din' they, Ern?" Stan said. " 'Ole street blown up an' all them Muggles dead. What was it they said 'ad 'appened, Ern?"**

"**Gas explosion," grunted Ernie.**

"**An' now 'e's out," said Stan, examining the newspaper picture of Black's gaunt face again. "Never been a breakout from Azkaban before, 'as there, Ern? Beats me 'ow 'e did it. Frightenin', eh? **

"Do you know how he did it?" Scorpius asked curiously.

The flicker of smirk crossed James's face. "All in good time, mate."

Scorpius looked instead at his two best friends. But Albus just shook his head, smiling slightly.

"I'm sure it will be more interesting if you spend the book guessing," Teddy told him.

Scorpius shook his head, but kept reading. It occurred to him that he was the only one who really knew next to nothing about this story, and they were apparently enjoying this fact. It was _their _story after all, though, he supposed.

**Mind, I don't fancy 'is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh, Ern?"**

**Ernie suddenly shivered.**

"**Talk about summat else, Stan, there's a good lad. Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles."**

"Why?" Lily asked in confusion. As far as she knew, they were just people. Rather hard, stoic, people from the way her father spoke, but nothing to give you the 'collywobbles' unless you were a prisoner.

"Azkaban used to be guarded by dementors," Teddy explained. "It was pretty much a black hole back then."

"But didn't the dementors side up with Voldemort?" Albus asked.

Teddy nodded grimly. "They made good prison guards, but the Ministry was fooling themselves when they thought they could control them."

"They had dementors guarding Azkaban?" Hugo asked. He had heard vaguely about those dark, swooping shadows, but he had half-hoped they weren't real.

"If they weren't so uncontrollable, I'd say it was a good system," James said. "Suck all the hope out of the wicked."

He was thinking of people like Bellatrix Lestrange and the other infamous Death Eaters he had heard about.

"But what about the innocent?" Teddy asked. "And does anyone really deserve mental imprisonment and torture like that? The only purpose it really served was to make the prisoners even more dangerously unhinged."

James shrugged, conceding. Sirius had had to endure that torture too, he remembered.

"What did they do with all the dementors, then?" Hugo asked nervously.

"Rounded most of them up," Rose told him. "They put _them _in a sort of prison. I read about it. Only people in the Department of Mysteries know where it is."

"Most of them?" Hugo squeaked.

"Well," Rose said uncomfortably, "by the end of the war, they'd spread all over, bred wildly. It's impossible to know how many were out there or where they'd gone…"

"They stay far away from people," Teddy assured him. "They know they'll get captured if they come into civilization. They keep to the heart of dark forests and old ruins and things like that mostly."

Scorpius decided to keep reading to change the subject.

**Stan put the paper away reluctantly, and Harry leaned against the window of the Knight Bus, feeling worse than ever. He couldn't help imagining what Stan might be telling his passengers in a few nights' time.**

" '**Ear about that 'Arry Potter? Blew up 'is aunt! We 'ad 'im 'ere on the Knight Bus, di'n't we, Ern? 'E was tryin' to run for it. . . ."**

All of them burst out laughing.

"Yes, he's a right criminal now," Fred chortled. "Accidentally inflating his aunt and all."

"I had no idea Harry was so dramatic," Teddy laughed, shaking his head. It amused him a great deal to hear Harry's naïve thoughts, maybe because when he was little, he'd been utterly convinced that Harry knew everything and always had.

**He, Harry, had broken wizard law just like Sirius Black. **

"Er… not exactly," Albus said, shaking his head. "Accidental magic is not quite the same as massacre."

**Was inflating Aunt Marge bad enough to land him in Azkaban? **

"The Ministry really ought to lock him up before he sends half of London bobbing up to their ceilings," said Fred. "They could have a mass inflator on their hands."

"Calm down, Dad," Lily told the book soothingly.

**Harry didn't know anything about the wizard prison, though everyone he'd ever heard speak of it did so in the same fearful tone. Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, had spent two months there only last year. **

A few people bristled at the reminder.

**Harry wouldn't soon forget the look of terror on Hagrid's face when he had been told where he was going, and Hagrid was one of the bravest people Harry knew.**

"Course he is," James said forcefully, nodding in approval.

**The Knight Bus rolled through the darkness, scattering bushes and wastebaskets, telephone booths and trees, and Harry lay, restless and miserable, on his feather bed. After a while, Stan remembered that Harry had paid for hot chocolate, but poured it all over Harry's pillow when the bus moved abruptly from Anglesey to Aberdeen. One by one, wizards and witches in dressing gowns and slippers descended from the upper floors to leave the bus. They all looked very pleased to go.**

"Most people do," Hugo sighed, unable to fathom why _no one _could appreciate the ride.

He looked appraisingly at Scorpius. Maybe him….

**Finally, Harry was the only passenger left.**

"**Right then, Neville," said Stan, clapping his hands, "whereabouts in London?"**

"**Diagon Alley," said Harry.**

"**Righto," said Stan. " 'Old tight, then . . ."**

**BANG!**

**They were thundering along Charing Cross Road. Harry sat up and watched buildings and benches squeezing themselves out of the Knight Bus's way. The sky was getting a little lighter. He would lie low for a couple of hours, go to Gringotts the moment it opened, then set off — where, he didn't know.**

"He's really thinking he's on the run," Rose murmured, a bit less amused. Harry running off and disappearing over some accidental magic would not be good for him. Who knew what sort of people could find him all alone?

**Ern slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt in front of a small and shabby-looking pub, the Leaky Cauldron, behind which lay the magical entrance to Diagon Alley.**

"**Thanks," Harry said to Ern.**

"See? Politest teenager out there," James sighed.

If his mother wasn't there to force him, James wouldn't even think of thanking a bus driver.

**He jumped down the steps and helped Stan lower his trunk and Hedwig's cage onto the pavement.**

"**Well," said Harry. " 'Bye then!"**

**But Stan wasn't paying attention. Still standing in the doorway to the bus, he was goggling at the shadowy entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.**

"_**There **_**you are, Harry," said a voice.**

Rose looked relieved. Someone had found him, which meant he wasn't about to run off into London.

**Before Harry could turn, he felt a hand on his shoulder. At the same time, Stan shouted, "Blimey! Ern, come 'ere! Come **_**'ere**_**!"**

"Who is it?" James demanded in frustration.

"My bet's Dumbledore," Fred offered.

"A sickle says it's some bloke form the Ministry who acts like he and Dad are old chums, but who really doesn't know him at all," Lily countered, eyeing Fred appraisingly. She had seen that behavior around her father often enough for it to annoy _her _as much as him.

Fred eyed Lily back.

"Alright, munchkin, a sickle it is. We haven't had enough gambling lately."

He stuck out his hand. Lily shook it, jerking Fred forward so she could flick his forehead.

"Don't call me 'munchkin'."

**Harry looked up at the owner of the hand on his shoulder and felt a bucketful of ice cascade into his stomach — he had walked right into Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself.**

"Pay up!' Lily cried triumphantly, holding a hand out to Fred.

"Hang on, you Dad's already met the Minister. It doesn't count." Fred tried to protest.

They all looked at Teddy again, the resident bet-settler.

"Technically Fudge didn't meet Harry yet, so… Lily wins contingent on his behavior towards Harry."

Lily smirked and Fred sighed.

**Stan leapt onto the pavement beside them.**

"**What didja call Neville, Minister?" he said excitedly.**

**Fudge, a portly little man in a long, pinstriped cloak, looked cold and exhausted.**

"**Neville?" he repeated, frowning. "This is Harry Potter."**

"**I knew it!" Stan shouted gleefully. "Ern! Ern! Guess 'oo Neville is, Ern! 'E's 'Arry Potter! I can see 'is scar!"**

"**Yes," said Fudge testily, "well, I'm very glad the Knight Bus picked Harry up, but he and I need to step inside the Leaky Cauldron now . . ."**

"How did he know Harry would be there?" Rose asked curiously.

The others shrugged.

"The trace, maybe?" Fred suggested.

"But Harry hasn't used magic since Private drive," Rose frowned.

"They track magical transport at the Ministry," Teddy said. "They would have seen the Knight Bus showing up in Harry's area and assumed it was him."

"Maybe, but how did they know where he was going?" Rose persisted. "Even tracking magical transport, they can't have had more than a few seconds warning. And the bus stopped plenty of other places, how would they have known that's where Harry was getting off?"

"I dunno, they're _magic, _Rosie," James said impatiently. "The Ministry does all kinds of stuff we don't understand. Maybe it just seemed like a logical place for him to go?"

He waved for Scorpius to keep reading and so Rose was forced to ponder this query in her head.

**Fudge increased the pressure on Harry's shoulder, and Harry found himself being steered inside the pub. A stooping figure bearing a lantern appeared through the door behind the bar. It was Tom, the wizened, toothless landlord.**

"Nearly forgot Hannah's still a student," James said, momentarily surprised that Tom was there instead. He'd half-expected to read about Hannah and Neville at the bar as they always had been whenever James had gone to the Leaky Cauldron in the summer.

"**You've got him, Minister!" said Tom. "Will you be wanting anything? Beer? Brandy?"**

"**Perhaps a pot of tea," said Fudge, who still hadn't let go of Harry.**

"Probably afraid he'll try and make a break for it," Albus muttered.

**There was a loud scraping and puffing from behind them, and Stan and Ern appeared, carrying Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage and looking around excitedly.**

" '**Ow come you di'n't tell us 'oo you are, eh, Neville?" said Stan,**

" 'cause he thought you'd drop him off in Azkaban," Fred supplied, still finding the idea of his uncle (Head Auror) being arrested.

**beaming at Harry, while Ernie's owlish face peered interestedly over Stan's shoulder.**

"**And a **_**private **_**parlor, please, Tom," said Fudge pointedly.**

" '**Bye," Harry said miserably to Stan and Ern as Tom beckoned Fudge toward the passage that led from the bar.**

" '**Bye, Neville!" called Stan.**

"Why're they still calling him Neville?" Hugo asked amusedly. "Does Stan still call him that?"

"He did last time," Lily said, remembering suddenly how it had confused her. "So that's why he kept winking."

**Fudge marched Harry along the narrow passage after Tom's lantern, and then into a small parlor. Tom clicked his fingers, a fire burst into life in the grate, and he bowed himself out of the room.**

"**Sit down, Harry," said Fudge, indicating a chair by the fire. Harry sat down, feeling goose bumps rising up his arms despite the glow of the fire. Fudge took off his pinstriped cloak and tossed it aside, then hitched up the trousers of his bottle-green suit and sat down opposite Harry.**

"He doesn't wear robes?" Hugo said, eyebrows raised. Nearly every wizard adult he knew wore robes. Half the pure-blood population seemed not to even know what trousers were. It seemed odd that the Minister wouldn't.

Teddy and his sister just shrugged at him, apparently as clueless as he was about the man's dress-sense.

"**I am Cornelius Fudge, Harry. The Minister of Magic."**

**Harry already knew this, of course; he had seen Fudge once before, but as he had been wearing his father's Invisibility Cloak at the time, Fudge wasn't to know that.**

Lily gave Fred a smug look here.

**Tom the innkeeper reappeared, wearing an apron over his nightshirt and bearing a tray of tea and crumpets. He placed the tray on a table between Fudge and Harry and left the parlor, closing the door behind him.**

"**Well, Harry," said Fudge, pouring out tea, "you've had us all in a right flap, I don't mind telling you. Running away from your aunt and uncle's house like that! **

"Yeah, I suppose the whole of the Ministry would be turned upside-down if Harry Potter disappeared," Fred nodded.

Lily went cold at the thought of her father vanishing and pushd it quickly out of her head.

**I'd started to think . . . but you're safe, and that's what matters."**

"What, did he think Voldemort might have snagged him or something?" James demanded incredulously.

"Well, considering Dad's first two years at school…" Albus said reasonably.

"And there were probably plenty of people who would have liked to get at Harry Potter, even if Fudge thinks Voldemort is gone," Teddy pointed out, thinking again of Lucius Malfoy.

The Potters all looked a bit perturbed by this topic. They all knew there were people who wanted their father's blood, but it was usually a topic they avoided thinking about.

**Fudge buttered himself a crumpet and pushed the plate toward Harry.**

"**Eat, Harry, you look dead on your feet. Now then . . . You will be pleased to hear that we have dealt with the unfortunate blowing-up of Miss Marjorie Dursley. **

There were a few snorts of laughter at the way Fudge phrased the incident.

**Two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad were dispatched to Privet Drive a few hours ago. Miss Dursley has been punctured **

There was more laughter. Fred and James practically howled.

**and her memory has been modified. She has no recollection of the incident at all. **

"Oh, come on," Fred said indignantly. "She deserves to remember that. Maybe then she'd watch her damn mouth and start acting like a decent human being."

Most of the group seemed to agree, (James looked rather furious) but there was nothing they could do about it now.

**So that's that, and no harm done."**

"Maybe not to her," Teddy muttered angrily, thinking of the week of verbal abuse his godfather had had to endure.

**Fudge smiled at Harry over the rim of his teacup, rather like an uncle surveying a favorite nephew. **

"I know that look," James, Fred, and Hugo all claimed.

Fred rolled his eyes at the other two. "Of _course _you two do, you might as well glob your families together into one giant one."

"I'm talking about just Ron," James said.

"Oi, I reckon _I'm _his favorite nephew," Albus countered his brother.

James rolled his eyes. "Sure, Al, whatever you say. But I was talking about your dad," he said to Fred. "Whenever he slips me products."

"Well if you're Uncle George's favorite, I'm Uncle Bill's," Hugo said proudly. "I'm the only one besides Dad who can beat him at chess."

All three of Hugo's competitors for Bill's favorite nephew sputtered in good-natured indignation. The truth was, both James and Hugo were probably right on some level, but they could all still argue over it.

"So who's favorite nephew are you?" James asked Fred in an heir that suggested he wouldn't believe the answer.

"Uncle Percy," Fred said promptly. "Ever notice he lets me get away with _anything_? It drives Molly mad, but it's like he's always on my side. Remember when I swapped his quill for an ink-exploding one? I thought he'd blow his top for sure, but he actually _laughed_. I'm definitely his favorite."

No one could even pretend to argue with that.

"But you still make fun of him," Rose pointed out disapprovingly.

"Well, the Percy in the books is a right twit. The real Uncle Percy's great, you know, most of the time. I wonder why he's so different."

"'spect we'll find out," Albus said after a moment. "So since Louis is obviously Uncle Charlie's favorite, who's favorite am I?"

James softened a little. "I guess you're Uncle Ron's favorite. You don't give him nearly as many headaches as I do. And you're Gran's favorite."

There was instant uproar at this, followed by several minutes of chaos as the group all argued amiably over who was the favorite, which was exactly what James had hoped would break out.

Scorpius watched the family exchange with mild jealousy. He wished he had someone to argue over favorites with. But his father had been an only child and his aunt Daphne was far too wrapped up in her herbs to be bothered finding a husband and giving him a cousin.

It was only when they had agreed that Herman (the stray cat Mrs. Weasley had taken in some years ago) forever claimed their grandmother's heart, that it quieted enough for Scorpius to keep reading.

**Harry, who couldn't believe his ears, opened his mouth to speak, couldn't think of anything to say, and closed it again.**

"Profound one, he is," Fred smirked.

"Well, usually," Teddy laughed.

"**Ah, you're worrying about the reaction of your aunt and uncle?"**

The atmosphere grew noticeably more tense and Teddy suddenly looked stormy as he recalled how Harry had left the house.

**said Fudge. "Well, I won't deny that they are extremely angry, Harry, but they are prepared to take you back next summer as long as you stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays."**

**Harry unstuck his throat.**

"**I **_**always **_**stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays," he said, "and I don't ever want to go back to Privet Drive."**

"No, they shouldn't make him," James grumbled.

Teddy felt trepidation coil in him at the thought of Harry being returned to that house after what had happened with Aunt Marge. He almost didn't want to read about it.

Albus noticed Teddy's expression and felt his own stomach clench.

"**Now, now, I'm sure you'll feel differently once you've calmed down," said Fudge in a worried tone. "They are your family, after all, and I'm sure you are fond of each other — er — **_**very **_**deep down."**

"Don't count on it," Albus muttered. "_Family _is supposed to take care of each other. _Family _is supposed to protect one another, not lock you up because you're different. Not half-starve you because they're angry."

His voice had gotten steadily louder until it was a furious whirl. That was the biggest injustice of all of this to Albus. It wasn't only what these people had done to his father, it was the fact that they were _supposed _to be his family.

It took him a moment to realize the group was watching him, taken aback. Albus hardly _ever _erupted, even when it was obvious he was bursting.

"You've got it down, Al," Teddy told him quietly at last. "They might be his blood, but they aren't his family. That's a right you've got to earn."

That statement struck something to Scorpius. He had never before thought of _earning _your family. His father may have refrained from shoving pure-blood ideals down his throat as much as possible, but blood still defined family to Scorpius. Could you… _pick _the people you considered family too, though? He set it aside because right now he had to read, but it was something to think about.

**It didn't occur to Harry to put Fudge right. He was still waiting to hear what was going to happen to him now.**

"**So all that remains," said Fudge, now buttering himself a second crumpet, "is to decide where you're going to spend the last three weeks of your vacation. I suggest you take a room here at the Leaky Cauldron and —"**

"**Hang on," blurted Harry. "What about my punishment?"**

**Fudge blinked.**

"Well don't _remind _him!" James burst out in exasperation. "If he's not punishing you, don't bring it up."

"**Punishment?"**

"**I broke the law!" Harry said. "The Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry!"**

"Pleading guilty, too! Dad, you're making things _worse _for yourself," James sighed.

"**Oh, my dear boy, we're not going to punish you for a little thing like that!" cried Fudge, waving his crumpet impatiently. "It was an accident! We don't send people to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!"**

"That's what we've been trying to tell you," Lily said, despite the fact that her thirteen-year-old father obviously couldn't hear her.

**But this didn't tally at all with Harry's past dealings with the Ministry of Magic.**

Teddy frowned slightly. That was true. He hadn't expected Harry to be _arrested, _but surely some form of reprimand would have been appropriate, even if it wasn't Harry's fault. The ministry did not just wave magic in front of Muggles aside.

"**Last year, I got an official warning just because a house-elf smashed a pudding in my uncle's house!" he told Fudge, frowning. "The Ministry of Magic said I'd be expelled from Hogwarts if there was any more magic there!"**

**Unless Harry's eyes were deceiving him, Fudge was suddenly looking awkward.**

"Why?" Hugo asked curiously.

"There must be something else going on here," Teddy said pensively.

"**Circumstances change, Harry. . . . We have to take into account. . . in the present climate . . . **

Teddy raised an eyebrow. It didn't seem that it was Fudge merely playing favorites with the famous teenager nor even Dumbledore's sway behind Harry's complete lack of punishment. So then what?

**Surely you don't **_**want **_**to be expelled?"**

"I dunno at this point," James said, shaking his head in great disappointment at his father's handling of the situation.

"**Of course I don't," said Harry.**

"**Well then, what's all the fuss about?" laughed Fudge. **

James nodded, although he looked indignant.

"**Now, have a crumpet, Harry, while I go and see if Tom's got a room for you."**

**Fudge strode out of the parlor and Harry stared after him. There was something extremely odd going on. Why had Fudge been waiting for him at the Leaky Cauldron, if not to punish him for what he'd done? **

"Well, he is an extremely important person, like it or not," Teddy said uncertainly. There was something odd about that, too. Once they had figured out where Harry was, surely the Minister of Magic wasn't necessary to check up on him and tell him what was going on?

**And now Harry came to think of it, surely it wasn't usual for the Minister of Magic **_**himself **_**to get involved in matters of underage magic?**

"Now you realize how trivial underage magic is," Teddy muttered, shaking his head, but there was something funny about that too. Even for Harry Potter, he wouldn't have expected Fudge to get directly involved.

The others seemed to be wondering the same things, too.

**Fudge came back, accompanied by Tom the innkeeper.**

"**Room eleven's free, Harry," said Fudge. "I think you'll be very comfortable. Just one thing, and I'm sure you'll understand . . . I don't want you wandering off into Muggle London, all right? Keep to Diagon Alley. And you're to be back here before dark each night. Sure you'll understand. Tom will be keeping an eye on you for me."**

"**Okay," said Harry slowly, "but why — ?"**

"**Don't want to lose you again, do we?" said Fudge with a hearty laugh. "No, no . . . best we know where you are. . . . I mean . . ."**

"Does anyone else get the feeling that Dad's being put on surveillance?" James asked.

"Yes," Rose said, looking suspicious.  
>"Well, he <em>is<em>… well, him," Hugo reminded them all again.

**Fudge cleared his throat loudly and picked up his pinstriped cloak.**

"**Well, I'll be off, plenty to do, you know. . . ." **

"**Have you had any luck with Black yet?" Harry asked.**

**Fudge's finger slipped on the silver fastenings of his cloak. **

"**What's that? Oh, you've heard — well, no, not yet, but it's only a matter of time. The Azkaban guards have never yet failed . . . **

"Except when Sirius got passed them the _first _time," James stage whispered.

**And they are angrier than I've ever seen them."**

**Fudge shuddered slightly.**

"**So, I'll say good-bye."**

**He held out his hand and Harry, shaking it, had a sudden idea.**

"**Er — Minister? Can I ask you something?"**

"**Certainly," said Fudge with a smile.**

"**Well, third years at Hogwarts are allowed to visit Hogsmeade,**

"Is he really asking the Minister of Magic to sign a permission slip?" Albus asked incredulously, a slow smile breaking over his face.

James started to laugh. "Only Dad…"

**but my aunt and uncle didn't sign the permission form. D'you think you could — ?"**

**Fudge was looking uncomfortable.**

"**Ah," he said. "No, no, I'm very sorry, Harry, but as I'm not your parent or guardian —"**

"**But you're the Minister of Magic," said Harry eagerly. "If you gave me permission —"**

"**No, I'm sorry, Harry, but rules are rules," said Fudge flatly.**

"Shot down," James sighed, disappointed that his dad hadn't gotten permission, but still grinning that he'd asked in the first place.

"How's he gonna be able to visit the village now, though?" Fred asked.

James shrugged. "Gran and Granddad could probably sign it for him, or Dumbledore might vouch for him, considering…"

He knew his dad got permission somehow. He'd heard a few stories about Hogsmeade.

"**Perhaps you'll be able to visit Hogsmeade next year. In fact, I think it's best if you don't . . . **

"Best if he doesn't?" James repeated, incredulous. "What's that supposed to mean? Why shouldn't Dad be allowed into the village?"

"Maybe that's his punishment," Albus suggested. "Fudge might just be too embarrassed to say it right out to him, you know, Dad being famous and influential when he gets older and stuff."

"Maybe," Rose said skeptically.

**yes . . . well, I'll be off. Enjoy your stay, Harry."**

**And with a last smile and shake of Harry's hand, Fudge left the room. Tom now moved forward, beaming at Harry.**

"**If you'll follow me, Mr. Potter," he said, "I've already taken your things up. . . ."**

**Harry followed Tom up a handsome wooden staircase to a door with a brass number eleven on it, which Tom unlocked and opened for him. **

**Inside was a very comfortable-looking bed, some highly polished oak furniture, a cheerfully crackling fire and, perched on top of the wardrobe —**

"**Hedwig!" Harry gasped.**

**The snowy owl clicked her beak and fluttered down onto Harry's arm.**

Lily smiled, pleased that the owl had found her father to keep him company.

"**Very smart owl you've got there," chuckled Tom. "Arrived about five minutes after you did. **

"She must not have gone to Egypt with Errol like Harry told her to," Hugo reasoned. "She couldn't have made that trip so fast. I'll bet she stuck around to keep an eye on him."

"She was a brilliant owl," Lily sighed.

**If there's anything you need, Mr. Potter, don't hesitate to ask."**

**He gave another bow and left.**

**Harry sat on his bed for a long time, absentmindedly stroking Hedwig. The sky outside the window was changing rapidly from deep, velvety blue to cold, steely gray and then, slowly, to pink shot with gold. Harry could hardly believe that he'd left Privet Drive only a few hours ago, that he wasn't expelled, and that he was now facing three Dursley-free weeks.**

"Thank Merlin," James muttered, a fresh wave of relief washing over him at the reminder that they were finished hearing about the Dursleys for the rest of the book.

"**It's been a very weird night, Hedwig," he yawned.**

"Well, that's one way to put it," Rose murmured.

Her Uncle had gone from enduring an onslaught of insults, to running away thinking he was an outlaw, to tea with the Minister of Magic. She supposed Harry was one of the few people who would some that up as merely 'very weird'.

**And without even removing his glasses, he slumped back onto his pillows and fell asleep.**

Scorpius set the book aside and looked around. He'd gotten some information about Sirius Black at least, though not exactly the sort of thing he'd wanted to hear.

"I'll read," Albus said, eyeing his brother out of the corner of his eye.

James still seemed a little off after what they'd learned about Sirius. It was tempting to capitalize on James's uncertainty over _his _middle name and dole back some of his own medicine, but Albus couldn't do it. For one, no matter the uncertainties over Sirius, he was essentially a good person, and Albus wouldn't say anything against him. For another, he couldn't bring himself to take advantage of his brother on one of the few occasions he displayed doubt.

Well, Albus thought as he flipped to the right chapter, they had found their mystery for this book. It seemed like his father's adolescence was nothing but one long chain of mystery and confusion. No wonder he'd ended up as an Auror.

**A/N: Was that alright? We always have to ask! :D Just a couple quick announcements. First, we fixed up 'the letters from no one' finally, if you were interested in that, and smoothed over the prologue chapters too. Second, I (Morning Lilies) have posted the sorting of all the Weasley grandchildren and Teddy. It's a bit of a character exercise that builds up the kids a little more and also explains **_**why **_**they all landed in Gryffindor, since without really realizing it, that's where we put them all. So if you want to check that out and let me know what you think, it would be much appreciated! Thanks! Ok, advertising done! I'll let you go! **


	4. The Leaky Cauldron

**Disclaimer: Mm-mm not ours. **

**A/N: Um… hello? Anyone still out there? Heh, been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, really. This chapter was just very difficult to get into. Dunno why. And school has started again and I (Morning Lilies, if you want someone to blame) am in the rather daunting process of applying to colleges and scrambling to get my future in order. I personally don't know if this chapter was really worth the nearly month-long wait you all had to endure, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! **

Chapter Four

The Leaky Cauldron

Albus began to read, thinking vaguely that it seemed strange to be able to go this long in the book without being interrupted. Maybe they'd finish at a reasonable hour with this one.

**Chapter Four**

**The Leaky Cauldron**

"You know, it would be kind of great to spend the summer at the Leaky Cauldron," James mused. "No parents, all of Diagon alley at your fingertips, plenty of interesting conversations to eavesdrop on."

"It _is _pretty great," Fred assured him, smirking. He lived above the busiest shop in the alley and never got tired of roaming up and down the cobblestone street or popping in to the Leaky Cauldron so Hannah could slip him a hot biscuit or two and he could eavesdrop on interesting guests.

James was extremely jealous. He might spend half his summer hanging around the shop, but it always left him envious of his cousins when he had to go home to his own boring house, secluded from society a mile away from even a tiny village. At least he could still play Quidditch in his own backyard.

Albus, who didn't mind being far away from the bustle of London and the press of the alley, began reading.

**It took Harry several days to get used to his strange new freedom. Never before had he been able to get up whenever he wanted or eat whatever he fancied. **

"Now _that's _the sort of thing we can't get at Diagon Alley," James sighed. "Not with Uncle George and Auntie Angelina and Neville and Hannah right there to keep an eye on us all."

Fred conceded this point. Most of the shop keepers knew him well enough to be an extension of his parents' eyes and ears, and he couldn't count the number of times he'd gotten stuck behind the counter on busy days when he'd rather be goofing off somewhere else. But it was a price to pay for a prime location, he supposed.

**He could even go wherever he pleased, as long as it was in Diagon Alley, and as this long cobbled street was packed with the most fascinating wizarding shops in the world, Harry felt no desire to break his word to Fudge and stray back into the Muggle world.**

**Harry ate breakfast each morning in the Leaky Cauldron, where he liked watching the other guests: funny little witches from the country, up for a day's shopping; venerable-looking wizards arguing over the latest article in **_**Transfiguration Today**_**; wild-looking warlocks; raucous dwarfs; and once, what looked suspiciously like a hag, who ordered a plate of raw liver from behind a thick woolen balaclava.**

"Always an interesting show," Fred nodded, almost nostalgic. It had been nearly a year since he'd been in the Leaky Cauldron, having spent Christmas at Hogwarts and the Easter holidays at the Burrow.

Hugo was enduring a similar feeling of nostalgia. He and Rose lived in London, too, though not near enough to Diagon Alley for them to visit the pub very often. But there was a little park down near their house that the pair of them walked to in the summer, and they would sit together on a bench, eating ice cream and watching Londoners go past, trying to guess the story behind the woman with spiked, green hair, or the man who looked exactly like the poodle he walked. He missed Rose when she went off to school, whatever he might tell everyone else. It wasn't nearly as much fun to sit alone in the park.

**After breakfast Harry would go out into the backyard, take out his wand, tap the third brick from the left above the trash bin, and stand back as the archway into Diagon Alley opened in the wall.**

**Harry spent the long sunny days exploring the shops and eating under the brightly colored umbrellas outside cafes, where his fellow diners were showing one another their purchases ("it's a lunascope, old boy — no more messing around with moon charts, see?") or else discussing the case of Sirius Black **

Scorpius looked up, eager to hear more. Rose and James carefully avoided each other's eyes. James had been excited about his namesake finally entering the story, but not like this. Not accused of murder.

**("personally, I won't let any of the children out alone until he's back in Azkaban"). Harry didn't have to do his homework under the blankets by flashlight anymore;**

Scorpius looked a bit disappointed that the topic had passed, but both Rose and James looked relieved.

**now he could sit in the bright sunshine outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, finishing all his essays with occasional help from Florean Fortescue himself, who, apart from knowing a great deal about medieval witch burnings, gave Harry free sundaes every half an hour.**

"That's nice of him," Lily smiled.

"Wish I could do my homework there," James said, thinking dreamily of ice cream.

"Me too," Fred said. "But it doesn't exist anymore."

"It doesn't?" Hugo asked. "Why not?"

Fred shrugged. "Dad says a lot of people got run out of business during the war. Nobody liked to go out shopping then. Except the Death Eaters and the snatchers and they didn't do a lot of buying," he added darkly.

"Snatchers?" Scorpius asked. His knowledge of details of the war were minimal as his parents rarely spoke about it.

"Gangs of low-lifes who ran rampant around the country, taking advantage of everyone's terror to get money," Rose explained. "Mostly they wandered 'round the countryside, looking for Muggle-borns who'd gone on the run to turn into the ministry for a reward, but Dad says they'd plunder abandoned houses and break into stores and things, looking for anything to sell."

"They got the joke shop," Fred said bitterly. "Dad had to start nearly from scratch when he reopened."

"Right," Scorpius mumbled. He hated not knowing things like this, things about the war and history that everyone else seemed to know. He listened more attentively when Albus kept reading, even though he doubted all the answers would be found in the Leaky Cauldron before the war had even started.

**Once Harry had refilled his money bag with gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts from his vault at Gringotts, he had to exercise a lot of self-control not to spend the whole lot at once. **

Hugo wondered what he would do if he had the entire contents of his parents' vault at his own disposal. Probably go home with a lot of peanut butter ice cream and all the Muggle comics he could get his hands on. It probably was a good thing that his self-restraint didn't have to wage a war with his impulse over an entire vault of gold. He wondered how his uncle had managed not to go broke in the three weeks he had free reign of Diagon Alley.

**He had to keep reminding himself that he had five years to go at Hogwarts, and how it would feel to ask the Dursleys for money for spellbooks, **

"Well, that would do it," Hugo murmured, wincing at the thought of how that conversation might turn out.

**to stop himself from buying a handsome set of solid gold Gobstones (a wizarding game rather like marbles, in which the stones squirt a nasty-smelling liquid into the other player's face when they lose a point). **

"I never liked that game," Lily sniffed, making a face.

"As far as I can remember, neither does Harry," said Teddy amusedly.

"But Gobstones is brilliant!" Scorpius protested indignantly. (He didn't mention that he did in fact have his own set of solid gold gobstones.)

"You like getting putrid gunk in your face all the time?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That doesn't happen if you're good," Scorpius smirked.

"Don't play him in gobstones," Albus advised, speaking, unfortunately, from experience.

His friend smirked even wider at this so Albus quickly continued reading.

**He was sorely tempted, too, by the perfect, moving model of the galaxy in a large glass ball, which would have meant he never had to take another Astronomy lesson. **

"That would be _so _cool!" James said longingly.

"How could you see anything?" Rose asked quizzically. "The galaxy's huge! To fit it into a glass ball would make all the stars and planets too tiny to really see."

"It said a _large _glass ball, Rosie," James said, rolling his eyes.

"But to have a scale large enough to observe would make the diameter –"

Albus cut his cousin off before she could start spewing out numbers.

**But the thing that tested Harry's resolution most appeared in his favorite shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, **

"Of course it did!" James said enthusiastically, beaming. He wasn't the only one looking interested at what this expensive new Quidditch item might be.

**a week after he'd arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.**

**Curious to know what the crowd in the shop was staring at, Harry edged his way inside and squeezed in among the excited witches and wizards until he glimpsed a newly erected podium, on which was mounted the most magnificent broom he had ever seen in his life.**

Fred thought he knew what was coming. His mother was the director of a Quidditch equipment manufacturing company – and was very enthusiastic about her work – which meant he had absorbed the history of broom development by the age of about eight. This had been one of the biggest breakthroughs in the field since the Silver Arrows had hit the market.

"**Just come out — prototype —" a square-jawed wizard was telling his companion.**

"**It's the fastest broom in the world, isn't it, Dad?" squeaked a boy younger than Harry, who was swinging off his father's arm.**

"**Irish International Side's just put in an order for seven of these beauties!" the proprietor of the shop told the crowd. "And they're favorites for the World Cup!"**

James was extremely curious by this point. What had the wizarding world going so wild back before his own Meteor 400?

**A large witch in front of Harry moved, and he was able to read the sign next to the broom:**

**THE FIREBOLT**

"That's Dad's broom!" Lily exclaimed, surprised. She had no idea her father's broom was so _old_.

"Those things are ancient," Scorpius said, surprised too. The Potters were all crazy about Quidditch and certainly at no loss for gold. Albus and his brother (and probably his sister, too) had top-of-the line brooms. Why would their father stick to something so outdated?

"Tell us about it," James said, rolling his eyes. It was beyond him why his father wouldn't ride anything but a Firebolt. Even when his old broom had started to drift badly to the left and had to be replaced, he'd just bought a new Firebolt. And not even one of the new models, but the original.

Teddy, however, had thought of something. The Firebolt was top-of-the line around the time Harry's godfather escaped from Azkaban…

**T****HIS STATE****-****OF****-****THE****-****ART RACING BROOM SPORTS A STREAMLINED****,**

**SUPERFINE HANDLE OF ASH****, ****TREATED WITH A**

**DIAMOND****-****HARD POLISH AND HAND****-****NUMBERED WITH ITS OWN**

**REGISTRATION NUMBER****. ****E****ACH INDIVIDUALLY SELECTED BIRCH**

**TWIG IN THE BROOMTAIL HAS BEEN HONED TO AERODYNAMIC**

**PERFECTION****, ****GIVING THE ****F****IREBOLT UNSURPASSABLE BALANCE**

**AND PINPOINT PRECISION****. ****T****HE ****F****IREBOLT HAS AN ACCELERATION**

**OF ****150 ****MILES AN HOUR IN TEN SECONDS AND INCORPORATES**

**AN UNBREAKABLE ****B****RAKING ****C****HARM****. ****P****RICE ON REQUEST****.**

"It sounds pretty slick when you describe it like that," said Hugo.

"Everything sounds slick in advertisements," Fred told him wisely. "Mum showed me the descriptions for the old Shooting Stars. It used the words 'super speed'."

They all burst out laughing, thinking of the ancient broom.

"Firebolts are pretty good brooms, all considered," Teddy said, still grinning.

James rolled his eyes. "My broom can get to 200 miles an hour in _five _seconds, no problem."

"If you went that fast, you'd break your neck," Teddy told him. "And besides," he added smirking. "Your dad _still _manages to kick your arse on his ancient broom."

James waved a hand. "Only 'cause I let him. Give him some pride in his old age."

Teddy rolled his eyes again.

**Price on request . . . Harry didn't like to think how much gold the Firebolt would cost. He had never wanted anything as much in his ****whole life — **

"Mum always tells me I'll be saying the same thing over something else in a week when I tell her that," James sighed.

"Well, you always are," Albus pointed out.

"Doesn't mean I don't still mean it," James grumbled. "What I don't get is why Dad doesn't just buy that broom! Why _we _can't just buy something once in a while! I mean, it's not like we're as rich as the old families, but we've got plenty of gold! I heard Dad telling Mum once that they could both retire right now and we could still live pretty comfortably the rest of our lives."

"James!" Lily reprimanded in her best imitation of their mother. "It's not proper to talk about money."

Teddy grinned. "Just because you can get away with it, doesn't mean you should. I imagine your parents don't get you everything you ask for because of the way _they _grew up. Look what getting everything did to Dudley." His grin slipped.

"I don't mean _spoil _us," James said, shaking his head. "I just mean –"

"Let you have what you want?" Teddy interrupted, smirking. "Look how your mum and all of them grew up. You've got it pretty good kid. When you start getting your own money, then you can get everything you want."

"You're acting like an adult again, Teddy," James huffed, crossing his arms.

"Sorry. I'll try to knock it off," Teddy laughed.

"It would be appreciated," James said haughtily.

**but he had never lost a Quidditch match on his Nimbus Two Thousand, and what was the point in emptying his Gringotts vault for the Firebolt, when he had a very good broom already? **

"That's why you don't use logic like that," James sighed.

**Harry didn't ask for the price, but he returned, almost every day after that, just to look at the Firebolt.**

"Sounds like you, James," Rose said, remembering countless trips to Diagon Alley where James had dragged them immediately to the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies just to drool over some new item. And although she rolled her eyes, she hoped pointing this out would cheer James up a little bit. She could tell he was trying to distract himself from thinking about Sirius with the impulse-buying topic. She hadn't wanted to make him feel bad, suggesting his namesake might not be the idealistic hero James had built him up to be, but she thought he ought to be prepared for it.

James shrugged. "Must be in the DNA." But he felt a little flutter of pride all the same for acting like his father, even for something as small as this. The more he read these books, the more he seemed to realize how different he was from his father. From both his parents, really, as he had no desire to write sappy valentines or blush every time a girl entered a room. But every time he found some small similarity, some bit of common ground to relate to his teenage father, it was like a tiny victory. Albus was the seeker, so most things Quidditch were in his department, but Al was too busy getting lost in junk shops to spend much time gazing at Quidditch supplies like James and their father could.

**There were, however, things that Harry needed to buy. He went to the Apothecary to replenish his store of potions ingredients, and as his school robes were now several inches too short in the arm and leg, **

Albus, who's school robes still fit him perfectly nearly a year after their fitting, looked hopeful that this indicated a growth spurt for him, too, in the near future. He was growing to loathe needing Rose to retrieve the things James nicked from his trunk and stuck up on top of the bookshelf in the Burrow's living room, simply for that purpose.

**he visited Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and bought new ones. Most important of all, he had to buy his new schoolbooks, which would include those for his two new subjects, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.**

**Harry got a surprise as he looked in at the bookshop window. Instead of the usual display of gold-embossed spellbooks the size of paving slabs, there was a large iron cage behind the glass that held about a hundred copies of **_**The Monster Book of Monsters. **_

"Oh!" Rose said suddenly, beaming. "This must be when Hagred started teaching! Mum said it was while they were in school."

More than a few people felt considerably relieved to learn that Hagrid wasn't in fact planning to rope Harry, Ron, and Hermione into helping him with one of his 'pets'.

**Torn pages were flying everywhere as the books grappled with each other, locked together in furious wrestling matches and snapping aggressively.**

"That's his course book?" Scorpius asked a little nervously. If just the _book _could rip his hand off, what would the actual class be like?

"Sure," Teddy grinned. "That's kind of like a preliminary exam for the class. If you can survive your book, you've got a good chance with the curriculum."

Scorpius gulped. Maybe he wouldn't pick that class then….

Fred and James, on the other hand, looked as if they couldn't wait to get their hands on a copy of that book.

**Harry pulled his booklist out of his pocket and consulted it for the first time. **_**The Monster Book of Monsters **_**was listed as the required book for Care of Magical Creatures. Now Harry understood why Hagrid had said it would come in useful. He felt relieved; he had been wondering whether Hagrid wanted help with some terrifying new pet.**

"Us too," Hugo murmured.

**As Harry entered Flourish and Blotts, the manager came hurrying toward him.**

"**Hogwarts?" he said abruptly. "Come to get your new books?" **

"**Yes," said Harry, "I need —"**

"**Get out of the way," said the manager impatiently, brushing Harry aside. **

"That's not good customer relations," Fred tsked.

**He drew on a pair of very thick gloves, picked up a large, knobbly walking stick, and proceeded toward the door of the **_**Monster Books' **_**cage.**

"**Hang on," said Harry quickly, "I've already got one of those."**

"**Have you?" A look of enormous relief spread over the manager's face. "Thank heavens for that. I've been bitten five times already this morning —"**

**A loud ripping noise rent the air; two of the **_**Monster Books **_**had seized a third and were pulling it apart.**

Lily looked indignant.

"**Stop it! Stop it!" cried the manager, poking the walking stick through the bars and knocking the books apart. "I'm never stocking them again, never! It's been bedlam! I thought we'd seen the worst when we bought two hundred copies of the **_**Invisible Book of Invisibility**_** — cost a fortune, and we never found them. . . . **

"How are you supposed to read an invisible book?" Hugo asked, brow furrowed.

"With invisible reading glasses," Fred told him, rolling his eyes.

"My bet is that was the biggest joke the book world's seen in ages," said Rose, the corner of her mouth quirking.

James shook his head. "You can't have forgotten about Gilderoy Lockhart so quickly."

Rose slapped her forehead. "What was I thinking?"

**Well . . . is there anything else I can help you with?"**

"**Yes," said Harry, looking down his booklist, "I need **_**Unfogging the Future **_**by Cassandra Vablatsky."**

"**Ah, starting Divination, are you?" said the manager, stripping off his gloves and leading Harry into the back of the shop, where there was a corner devoted to fortune-telling. A small table was stacked with volumes such as **_**Predicting the Unpredictable: Insulate**__**Yourself Against Shocks **_**and **_**Broken Balls: **_

Fred and James (predictably) sniggered. Rose and Teddy rolled their eyes.

_**When Fortunes Turn**__**Foul.**_

"**Here you are," said the manager, who had climbed a set of steps to take down a thick, black-bound book. "**_**Unfogging the Future.**_** Very good guide to all your basic fortune-telling methods — palmistry, crystal balls, bird entrails —"**

Lily wrinkled her nose. "I'm _not _taking Divination."

James smirked at his little sister. "What? Don't think you can find your fortune in bird-"

Albus read over him.

**But Harry wasn't listening. His eyes had fallen on another book, which was among a display on a small table: **_**Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst Is Coming.**_

"That's a creepy table," Scorpius mumbled.

But Teddy looked unimpressed. "I swear the people that write those books think _everything _is a death omen. 'If you see a black bird roosting on a chimney' 'If a daisy faces south in may' 'If you finish your breakfast with an odd number of bites'"

"Oh, no!" Fred croaked, clutching his throat. "I can't remember if it took me a hundred and twenty-seven or twenty-_eight _bites this morning! I'm going to get struck by lightning for sure!"

Teddy, Rose, and James all laughed.

"**Oh, I wouldn't read that if I were you," said the manager lightly, looking to see what Harry was staring at. "You'll start seeing death omens everywhere. It's enough to frighten anyone to death."**

"There you go," Rose drawled.

**But Harry continued to stare at the front cover of the book; **

"Why?" Lily wanted to know. Her father wasn't the sort of person to get scared by superstition.

**it showed a black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes. It looked oddly familiar. . . .**

"Perfect," Teddy groaned. "Now he's going to think Sirius is an omen of his death."

"Dad doesn't believe in stuff like that," Lily scoffed.

"Maybe not anymore, but he was young, naïve and pessimistic back then," Teddy reminded her. "He thought he'd be thrown in Azkaban for accidental magic."

"Dad won't live in fear," James asserted without a doubt in his mind.

Teddy half-smiled. He couldn't see his godfather being afraid of a book like that, but everything was different in Harry's teenaged mind. He would have never guessed how gloomy and dramatic Harry's thoughts could get. There was something about hearing Harry being afraid of a death omen that Teddy didn't know if he could stand.

**The manager pressed **_**Unfogging the Future **_**into Harry's hands.**

"**Anything else?" he said.**

"**Yes," said Harry, tearing his eyes away from the dog's and dazedly consulting his booklist. "Er — I need **_**Intermediate Transfiguration**_** and **_**The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three.**_**"**

**Harry emerged from Flourish and Blotts ten minutes later with his new books under his arms and made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, hardly noticing where he was going and bumping into several people.**

Teddy felt a ripple of apprehension. Harry had told him once, when Teddy had been little and refused to let go of Harry's arm, terrified that he wouldn't come back from work, that old Death (Teddy pictured him like the drawing in his Beedle the Bard stories) was too afraid to come near Harry for a long, long time. The idea of it being the other way around disturbed him.

**He tramped up the stairs to his room, went inside, and tipped his books onto his bed. Somebody had been in to tidy; the windows were open and sun was pouring inside. Harry could hear the buses rolling by in the unseen Muggle street behind him and the sound of the invisible crowd below in Diagon Alley. He caught sight of himself in the mirror over the basin.**

"**It can't have been a death omen," he told his reflection defiantly. "I was panicking when I saw that thing in Magnolia Crescent. . . . It was probably just a stray dog. . . ."**

Lily looked satisfied. She was right. Her father didn't put stock by such nonsense, even when he was younger. Teddy was relieved, too. He should have known Harry wouldn't flake out over something like that.

**He raised his hand automatically and tried to make his hair lie flat.**

Albus smiled slightly. It was a habit he had, too.

"**You're fighting a losing battle there, dear," said his mirror in a wheezy voice.**

This elicited some chuckles from the group.

**As the days slipped by, Harry started looking wherever he went for a sign of Ron or Hermione. **

Rose and Hugo grinned at the prospect of their parents reentering the story.

**Plenty of Hogwarts students were arriving in Diagon Alley now, with the start of term so near. Harry met Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, his fellow Gryffindors, in Quality Quidditch Supplies, where they too were ogling the Firebolt; **

"True Quidditch fans," James nodded approvingly.

**he also ran into the real Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, forgetful boy, outside Flourish and Blotts. Harry didn't stop to chat; **

"Dad," Lily said reproachfully.

**Neville appeared to have mislaid his booklist and was being told off by his very formidable-looking grandmother. **

"I can't quite imagine anyone related to Neville being formidable," Rose said, trying to imagine his grandmother.

Teddy was once again reminded of Neville's living arrangements. And he wondered yet again why Neville had been raised by his grandmother just as Teddy had been himself. He had initially been a little put out that his favorite professor had failed to mention this connection in all the years Teddy had known him, but as the story progressed and there was no further details on the subject, Teddy got the feeling that it was something Neville just didn't mention period.

**Harry hoped she never found out that he'd pretended to be Neville while on the run from the Ministry of Magic.**

They all burst out laughing at this idea.

**Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that he would at least meet Ron and Hermione tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. **

"Assuming he can get on it this year," Scorpius said quietly.

"Well, there aren't any mad, life-saving house-elves around this year, so he should be fine," Teddy said.

"No mad, life-saving house-elves that you know of," Fred corrected mysteriously.

**He got up, dressed, went for a last look at the Firebolt, and was just wondering where he'd have lunch, when someone yelled his name and he turned.**

"**Harry! HARRY!"**

**They were there, both of them, **

Rose and Hugo beamed. That could only be two people.

**sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor — Ron looking incredibly freckly Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at him.**

There was some cheering at Ron and Hermione's introduction. Albus smiled as he kept reading. It was about time. His dad needed them around.

"**Finally!" said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down. **

And apparently his aunt and uncle shared the sentiment.

"**We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to**

**Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and —"**

"**I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained. "And how come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"**

"Maybe he read it in some bird sh– " James sniggered.

Rose threw a handful of grass at him.

"**Dad," said Ron simply.**

**Mr. Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, would of course have heard the whole story of what had happened to Aunt Marge.**

"**Did you **_**really **_**blow up your aunt, Harry?" said Hermione in a very serious voice.**

"**I didn't mean to," said Harry while Ron roared with laughter.**

Fred and James, who had already been smothering laughter, erupted at Harry's response.

"Dad," James sighed, shaking his head. "Only you could respond to that sentence like that."

"**I just — lost control."**

"**It's not funny, Ron," said Hermione sharply. "Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled."**

"So is he," Rose smiled.

"**So am I," admitted Harry. "Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested." He looked at Ron. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"**

"**Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?" shrugged Ron, still chuckling. "Famous Harry Potter and all that. I'd hate to see what the Ministry'd do to **_**me **_**if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because Mum would've killed me. **

Albus noticed a dark look cross Teddy's face as he thought about what might have happened if Harry's aunt and uncle had dealt with him. It made him shiver. And Ron and Hermione must have no idea….

**Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione's there as well!"**

**Hermione nodded, beaming. "Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things."**

"**Excellent!" said Harry happily. "So, have you got all your new books and stuff?"**

"**Look at this," said Ron, pulling a long thin box out of a bag and opening it. "Brand-new wand.**

"Thank goodness," Rose muttered. Her father _couldn't _keep using his old broken one.

**Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair. **

"Same one he's got now," Hugo reported.

**And we've got all our books —" He pointed at a large bag under his chair. "What about those **_**Monster**__**Books, **_**eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two."**

Fred grinned wickedly.

"You would have volunteered to buy all of ours at once, wouldn't you?" Rose accused.

"Bet I'd've caused a mental breakdown if it were during Lily and Hugo's third year. Nine monster books…"

"**What's all that, Hermione?" Harry asked, pointing at not one but three bulging bags in the chair next to her.**

"Her personal Christmas in August," Albus grinned. "Honestly, I'm surprised Hermione could fit any clothes at all into her trunk with all those books."

"**Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I?" said Hermione. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies —"**

"You said she couldn't take all those classes," Fred said, rounding on Rose accusatorily.

"She _can't_," Rose said, perplexed. "The schedule hasn't changed since they were in school and Neville told me there wasn't enough space to take every new class…"

"Maybe she's planning on teaching herself," Scorpius suggested.

Albus shrugged and returned to reading, but Rose still looked as if she were mulling over her mother's supposed schedule. If there was a way to take every class, she would find it.Especially if her mother had taken every class.

"**What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"**

"Easy O," Teddy grinned, echoing his friend, Rob, who was half-blood and more than happy to take Muggle Studies along with Teddy.

"Since when has Mum ever wanted to get an O the easy way?" Hugo asked.

Teddy laughed. "Never, it sounds like."

"**But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," said Hermione earnestly.**

"**Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. **

"It doesn't look like she'll find time to even _breathe_," James said incredulously.

**Hermione ignored them.**

"Something you have to get good at doing when you've got two guys as your best friends," Rose sighed, smirking at her two best friends. Both of them pretended to pout at her, which lead to all three of them dissolving into laughter as neither one could pout without looking ridiculous.

"Ahem," James said impatiently. "Those of us outside your little bubble of weirdness would like to continue with the story."

"**I've still got ten Galleons," she said, checking her purse. "It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present."**

"**How about a nice **_**book**_**?" said Ron innocently.**

Several people snickered.

"**No, I don't think so," said Hermione composedly. **

"What?" Fred exclaimed, looking truly astonished. "Aunt Hermione deliberately choosing _not _to spend her money on a book? The world's going mad! Mad, I tell you!"

"**I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol —"**

"**I haven't," said Ron. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him."**

"He must be ancient by now," Lily said sadly, remembering that he had belonged to Percy before Ron. "How long do rats live?"

The others shrugged.

"Not _very _long, but long enough," Teddy told her unhelpfully.

**Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.**

"**There's a magical creature shop just over there," said Harry, who knew Diagon Alley very well by now. "You could see if they've got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl."**

Rose frowned slightly. Of course she hadn't been around until long after her parents had left school, but she thought her mother had had a cat, not an owl. Yes, she could remember it from when she was very small. It was an old, ornery, orange thing that had maintained an on-going battle with her over who got the hearth rug in the evenings.

**So they paid for their ice cream and crossed the street to the Magical Menagerie.**

**There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing.**

Albus barely managed not to shudder at the mention of hissing and the implications of what might occupy several of those cages.

**The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, **

"Wicked!" James grinned. "If you lot need ideas for half-birthday presents for me, that's the way to go."

"I still haven't received my _quarter _birthday gift from you," Fred said huffily.

"Well, see that's because quarter birthdays are just greedy," James told him, shaking his head.

**so Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited, examining the cages.**

**A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. **

"Ooo," Lily squealed. "My half-birthday's before James's. That's what you all should be thinking about."

Albus cleared his throat. "In case you've forgotten, dear siblings of mine, it will be my _actual _birthday in two months and you don't see me making a list."

"That isn't our fault," Lily pointed out, smiling sweetly.

**Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails.**

**The double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron approached the counter.**

"**It's my rat," he told the witch. "He been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt."**

"**Bang him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.**

**Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better look.**

"Gawkers," Hugo muttered.

**Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat was secondhand (he had once belonged to Ron's brother Percy) and a bit battered. Next to the glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone.**

"**Hm," said the witch, picking up Scabbers. "How old is this rat?"**

"**Dunno," said Ron. "Quite old. He used to belong to my brother."**

"**What powers does he have?" said the witch, examining Scabbers closely.**

"**Er —" The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. **

"But he's always been a good rat," Lily said in defense of the ailing creature. She had a horrible feeling that Scabbers was going to die and if her uncle was anything like Hugo, she hated to think how he would take this.

**The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers's tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.**

"**He's been through the mill, this one," she said.**

"**He was like that when Percy gave him to me," said Ron defensively.**

"**An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so," said the witch. **

Lily sighed. Yes, her uncle's poor rat was certainly reaching the end of his days.

"**Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these —"**

**She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. **

Hugo crossed his arms, disliking these shiny, gawking rats even less.

**Ron muttered, "Show-offs."**

Lily and Hugo both sniffed.

Teddy smiled to himself. Showing their innocence.

"**Well, if you don't want a replacement, **

"Of course he doesn't want a replacement!" Lily said indignantly. "What kind of person _replaces _their pets?"

**you can try this rat tonic," said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.**

"**Okay," said Ron. "How much — OUCH!"**

A few people jumped at Albus's loud exclamation.

"What's the matter?" Teddy asked.

Albus blinked at him. Then, realizing what had happened, began to laugh.

This only made Teddy look more concerned.

"It was in the book," Rose explained, rolling her eyes and giving her cousin a 'you're such an idiot' look.

But it wasn't often that Albus could fool anyone at all, especially if he was trying. He was a dreadful actor. He blamed James for sucking up all the pranking genes before he got the chance.

**Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.**

Rose grinned, suddenly realizing who the orang blur must be. This was bound to be good.

"**NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, **

_That's _what his name was, Rose thought.

**but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scampered for the door.**

"**Scabbers!" Ron shouted, racing out of the shop after him; Harry followed.**

**It took them nearly ten minutes to catch Scabbers, who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket **

"Poor thing," Lily said sympathetically.

**and straightened up, massaging his head.**

"**What **_**was **_**that?"**

"A monster," Lily sniffed, very much on the side of the old rat.

"He wasn't _that _bad," Rose said fondly. He had at least played fair in their on-going rivalry over the hearth rug as far as she could remember, which admittedly wasn't much.

"Are you kidding, Rose?" Lily asked exasperatedly. "It just tried to _kill _a poor old rat!"

"Well, yes. But he got better, I think. He never even scratched me, even when I got big enough to pull him off the rug." Rose defended. "He was Mum's," she explained.

"Spoilers!" James exclaimed, flinging up his hands. "You've ruined the whole book for me, now, Rosie."

Rose rolled her eyes.

Lily looked torn. If Hermione had kept the thing as a pet, it couldn't be all blood-thirsty. But she still didn't like it.

"**It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger," said Harry. **

"I'm going with the latter," Fred declared.

"**Where's Hermione?"**

"**Probably getting her owl —"**

"Or buying the small tiger."

**They made their way back up the crowded street to the Magical Menagerie. As they reached it, Hermione came out, but she wasn't carrying an owl. Her arms were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat.**

"Yes, we already know," James drawled with a mock-annoyed look at Rose. "So much for the big reveal…"

"**You **_**bought **_**that monster?" said Ron, his mouth hanging open.**

"**He's **_**gorgeous, **_**isn't he?" said Hermione, glowing.**

There were a lot of skeptical looks.

"Er, not that I can remember," Rose said in bemusement.

**That was a matter of opinion, thought Harry. The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall. **

There were some snickers.

**Now that Scabbers was out of sight, however, the cat was purring contentedly in Hermione's arms.**

"**Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" said Ron.**

"All the more reason for her to buy it," Fred sniggered, thinking of how much his aunt and uncle bickered.

"**He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" said Hermione.**

"**And what about Scabbers?" said Ron, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"**

"And so begins the first argument of this book," James announced brightly.

"Cat versus rat," Fred added. "How very fitting."

"Even Mum and Dad's pets couldn't get along," Hugo giggled.

"**That reminds me, you forgot your rat tonic," said Hermione, slapping the small red bottle into Ron's hand. "And stop **_**worrying,**_** Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, what's the problem? **

"Er, the rest of the time when they're not sleeping," Fred suggested. "You know, when the cat's going to be hunting _rats_."

**Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been in there for ages; no one wanted him."**

"Wonder why," Lily muttered.

"**I wonder why," said Ron sarcastically as they set off toward the Leaky Cauldron.**

**They found Mr. Weasley sitting in the bar, reading the **_**Daily Prophet.**_

"Granddad," Hugo beamed as a few of the others cheered again.

"**Harry!" he said, smiling as he looked up. "How are you?"**

"**Fine, thanks," said Harry as he, Ron, and Hermione joined Mr. Weasley with all their shopping.**

**Mr. Weasley put down his paper, and Harry saw the now familiar picture of Sirius Black staring up at him.**

"**They still haven't caught him, then?" he asked.**

"**No," said Mr. Weasley, looking extremely grave. "They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far."**

"Of course not, he was a –" but James cut himself off abruptly with a look towards Scorpius. If they were going to make him here the story properly, he couldn't ruin a single detail.

Scorpius looked curious. "What was he?"

"Oh, nothing," James said evasively. Albus quickly began reading again.

"**Would we get a reward if we caught him?" asked Ron. "It'd be good to get some more money —"**

"**Don't be ridiculous, Ron," said Mr. Weasley, who on closer inspection looked very strained. "Black's not going to be caught by a thirteen-year-old wizard. **

"Just like Voldemort wasn't going to be thwarted by an eleven-year-old wizard," Fred said. "I wouldn't underestimate those three."

**It's the Azkaban guards who'll get him back, you mark my words."**

**At that moment Mrs. Weasley entered the bar, laden with shopping bags and followed by the twins, Fred and George, **

And of course this ensued more cheering, more for the entertainment of making a lot of noise. Fred whooped at the mention of his father and namesake, but there was a small twinge of sadness inside him, too.

**Who were about to start their fifth year at Hogwarts; the newly elected Head Boy, Percy; and the Weasleys' youngest child and only girl, Ginny.**

More enthusiastic cries. And just to be fair, Fred added in a cheer for Percy, too.

**Ginny, who had always been very taken with Harry, **

The Potters and Teddy all exchanged smirks.

**seemed even** **more heartily embarrassed than usual when she saw him, perhaps** **because he had saved her life during their previous year at** **Hogwarts. **

The smiles faded at the reminder of what they'd found out in the last book.

"But she's still all embarrassed around Dad," James pointed out. "It didn't change her completely…"

He was wishing that he hadn't rushed his brother and sister up the stairs away from their mother last night, that he'd stopped in to say goodnight.

**She went very red and muttered "hello" without looking** **at him. **

That lightened the mood a bit. Lily smiled and Albus and James exchanged amused glances, trying to picture their mother so embarrassed.

**Percy, however, held out his hand solemnly as though** **he and Harry had never met and said, "Harry. How nice to see** **you."**

Fred snorted. "Power's gone to his head."

"**Hello, Percy," said Harry, trying not to laugh.**

"**I hope you're well?" said Percy pompously, shaking hands. It was rather like being introduced to the mayor.**

There were some more snickers.

"**Very well, thanks —"**

"**Harry!" said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply **_**splendid **_**to see you, old boy —"**

Fred and James were the first to start laughing.

"**Marvelous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing."**

By this point, the others had joined in, smoothing their laughter in their hands as Albus fought to keep reading with a straight face.

**Percy scowled.**

"**That's enough, now," said Mrs. Weasley.**

"**Mum!" said Fred as though he'd only just spotted her and seizing her hand too. "How really corking to see you —"**

That sent them over the edge. The whole group roared with mirth.

"Uncle Fred was brilliant," Fred sighed, grinning so hard his face hurt. He really wished he could have met him….

"**I said, that's enough," said Mrs. Weasley, depositing her shopping in an empty chair. "Hello, Harry, dear. I suppose you've heard our exciting news?" She pointed to the brand-new silver badge on Percy's chest. "Second Head Boy in the family!" she said, swelling with pride.**

"**And last," Fred muttered under his breath.**

"**I don't doubt that," said Mrs. Weasley, frowning suddenly. "I notice they haven't made you two prefects."**

"Course they haven't. Dad and Uncle Fred would have sent their badges back," Fred said indignantly.

"What about Dad?" Rose said, frowning slightly.

"What about him?" Albus asked his cousin.

"Gran said she didn't doubt Uncle Percy would be the last Head Boy. She doesn't think Dad could be Head Boy?"

"I don't think that's what she meant," Teddy said soothingly.

"I know," Rose said, biting her lip. "But still…."

It made her feel bad for her father, standing right there and hearing his mother say she didn't think there would be anymore Head Boys in their family. That was one of the problems with big families. You were often over-looked.

"**What do we want to be prefects for?" said George, looking revolted at the very idea. "It'd take all the fun out of life."**

"Hear, hear," Fred and James chorused, slapping a high-five.

Rose and Teddy exchanged looks, grinning wryly.

"You know, my dad was a prefect," Teddy pointed out.

"Well, they had to pick _one _of them," James countered, rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked, confused. This was a part of the story that he was being kept in the dark about apparently, though, because no one answered even though they all seemed to know.

**Ginny giggled.**

"**You want to set a better example for your sister!" snapped Mrs. Weasley.**

"She never needed anybody to set an example for her," Teddy grinned. "Ginny would do what she wanted no matter what."

"**Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother," said Percy loftily. "I'm going up to change for dinner. . . ."**

Fred rolled his eyes. "What's wrong with whatever he's got on? Afraid he's going to meet the Minister or something?"

"I think Percy wanted to make things more formal than they were," Teddy said thoughtfully. "You know, make it seem like they were richer, more powerful… calling his parents 'mother' and 'father', spending the summer in exotic places, palling around with 'The-boy-who-lived'."

"Why would Uncle Percy want to pretend our family's part of the stupid upper-crust or whatever they call them?" Fred said indignantly. "We're just fine the way we are, thank you very much. Chickens running round the yard and all."

Teddy shrugged. "He was different back then. It was before the war, back before he really knew what it might be like to lose what he had."

Fred pressed his lips together. He didn't like the idea of his uncle wanting a different sort of family, maybe even being embarrassed by the one he had. James gave him a look as if to say 'what's the big deal?', but Fred couldn't even explain to himself why this bothered him so much.

**He disappeared and George heaved a sigh.**

"**We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he told Harry. "But Mum spotted us."**

They all laughed, but Fred couldn't appreciate his father's joke as much as he wanted to. He couldn't imagine having a sibling that was so _annoying_. Roxanne new how to get on his nerves if she really wanted to, but…. It would be like having Molly as a sister, Fred realized in horror. He immediately felt a wave of sympathy for Lucy.

**Dinner that night was a very enjoyable affair. Tom the innkeeper put three tables together in the parlor, and the seven Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione ate their way through five delicious courses.**

"**How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred as they dug into a sumptuous chocolate pudding.**

"**The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr. Weasley. **

**Everyone looked up at him.**

"**Why?" said Percy curiously.**

"**It's because of you, Perce," said George seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them —"**

"— **for Humongous Bighead," said Fred.**

"I really missed hearing about them," James grinned as the rest snickered. "They make everything more entertaining."

Fred grinned.

**Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into their pudding.**

"**Why are the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked again, in a dignified voice.**

"**Well, as we haven't got one anymore," said Mr. Weasley,**

"Pity, that is," Fred said, heaving an enormous sigh. "It was a brilliant car…."

The Flying-Ford-Anglia fan club looked down sadly.

"— **and as I work there, they're doing me a favor —"**

**His voice was casual, but Harry couldn't help noticing that Mr. Weasley's ears had gone red, just like Ron's did when he was under pressure.**

"What's going on?" Rose asked suspiciously.

Teddy shrugged. "Something alright. My guess is it has to do with why Fudge himself was waiting for Harry in the Leaky Cauldron and why he didn't get into trouble."

"I don't get it," said Hugo. "What's the big deal about Granddad getting some rental cars, anyway?"

"He wasn't a very important member of the Ministry back then," Teddy explained. "In fact, I don't think Fudge really considered him much more than a pity-case. Keep his department going just so the two people that worked there could keep their jobs."

Hugo spluttered angrily and Lily's eyes were flashing. The rest looked angry, too.

"So it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to send cars for your granddad."

"But Harry's with them," Hugo pointed out. "He's important back then."

Teddy smiled. "Yeah, but since when has the Ministry taken much interest in how Harry got to school? He nearly didn't find the platform first year and missed it all together second year. It's just curious. There must be something going on."

"**Good thing, too," said Mrs. Weasley briskly. "Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground. . . . You are all packed, aren't you?"**

"**Ron hasn't put all his new things in his trunk yet," said Percy, in a long-suffering voice. "He's dumped them on my bed."**

"Tattle-tale," Fred and Lily muttered at the same time.

They looked at each other, grinning in bemusement.

"**You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs. Weasley called down the table.**

Teddy felt a small thrill of excitement as he realized that they would be at Hogwarts within the next chapter or two. They were mere pages away from reading about his father!

**Ron scowled at Percy.**

**After dinner everyone felt very full and sleepy. One by one they made their way upstairs to their rooms to check their things for the next day. Ron and Percy were next door to Harry. He had just closed and locked his own trunk when he heard angry voices through the wall, and went to see what was going on.**

**The door of number twelve was ajar and Percy was shouting.**

"**It was **_**here, **_**on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing —"**

"**I haven't touched it, all right?" Ron roared back.**

"**What's up?" said Harry.**

"**My Head Boy badge is gone," said Percy, rounding on Harry.**

"Thief!" Fred wailed in a high-pitched voice, clutching his face. "A dreadful crime has been committed!"

"Any one of them could be to blame!" James said in a sing-song voice.

"Who done it?" Fred demanded. "Lock the doors! Seal the windows! No man shall leave until the culprit is caught!"

Albus read over them.

"**So's Scabbers's rat tonic," said Ron, throwing things out of his trunk to look. **

"A crime _spree_!"

But Albus didn't stop reading.

"**I think I might've left it in the bar —"**

"**You're not going anywhere till you've found my badge!" yelled Percy.**

"**I'll get Scabbers's stuff, I'm packed," Harry said to Ron, **

"I think Dad was looking for an excuse to leave," Rose smirked.

**and he went downstairs.**

**Harry was halfway along the passage to the bar, which was now very dark, when he heard another pair of angry voices coming from the parlor. **

"Can't you feel the love tonight?" James asked sarcastically.

**A second later, he recognized them as Mr. and Mrs.****Weasleys'. **

"Gran and Granddad?" Hugo asked with wide eyes.

He had never heard of his grandparents fighting. He didn't even really believe it was possible.

**He hesitated, not wanting them to know he'd heard them arguing, when the sound of his own name made him stop, then move closer to the parlor door.**

"Of course," Rose muttered, but fondly. She knew from experience that it was impossible _not _to eavesdrop if you heard your own name.

"They're fighting about Dad?" Lily asked curiously.

Her brother kept reading as an answer.

"**. . . makes no sense not to tell him," Mr. Weasley was saying heatedly. "Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. **

Teddy raised an eyebrow as the other exchanged glances. Harry might only have been thirteen, but he wasn't as innocent enough to be treated like a child.

**He's thirteen years old and —"**

"**Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" said Mrs. Weasley shrilly.**

"What's the truth?" James demanded, a shiver running up his spine. How could his father's life jump from one terrifying mystery to another so rapidly?

"**Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's **_**happy **_**not knowing!"**

"Not anymore," Teddy muttered.

"**I don't want to make him miserable, I want to put him on his guard!" retorted Mr. Weasley. "You know what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by themselves — they've even ended up in the Forbidden Forest! But Harry mustn't do that this year! **

"What's different about this year?" Rose asked.

Albus looked up in exasperation. "If you lot would just let me read, I could _tell _you."

Rose looked sheepish.

**When I think what could have happened to him that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would have been dead before the Ministry found him."**

An icy chill fell over the group as Albus looked up at the others.

Lily shook slightly. It wasn't like her grandfather to say things like that. He must have been really upset.

"Keep reading," James barked tensely and Albus hurriedly returned to the book.

"**But he's **_**not **_**dead, he's fine, so what's the point —"**

"If he's in danger, he needs to know," Teddy said quietly. "There's no point keeping it from him, it won't make all the crap he's taken in the last twelve years go away."

"**Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad, and maybe he is, **

"What's this got to do with Sirius?" James asked angrily, but a pit of dread was forming at what _else _he might find out about his namesake.

**but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been a month, and no one's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the **_**Daily Prophet,**_** we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after —"**

"He's _not,_" James said incredulously, seeing where this was going. And this time he did round on Rose with a glare that dared her to contradict.

She just shook her head, eyes wide and miserable. Sirius Black was not after her uncle, that much she was positive of. But why did the wizarding world seem to think he was?

"**But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts."**

"They think Sirius is coming after Dad?" Lily asked incredulously. "But he's Dad's _godfather_! He's practically family!"  
>Teddy merely shook his head. "I suppose if they think he was a Death Eater, they'd expect him to hunt down The-Boy-Lived."<p>

"Well, he's not," Lily said forcefully, as if she were telling the Minister of Magic from nearly twenty-five years ago.

Albus was relieved. There wasn't any real danger, then. Not yet, anyway. He didn't know if he could take know one of his parents was in the crosshairs again.

"**We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts."**

"**But no one's really sure that Black's after Harry —"**

**There was a thud on wood, and Harry was sure Mr. Weasley had banged his fist on the table.**

Hugo flinched as if he had seen the action himself. He had seen his grandfather angry before, but those occasions were few and far between and never to the point of slamming fists.

"**Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Black's been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts . . . he's at Hogwarts.' **

The group looked at one another again.  
>"So what's that supposed to mean… if he's not after your dad?" Scorpius asked.<p>

"Well, maybe he _is_," Rose started, hurrying on when James opened his mouth furiously. "But not to hurt him! I mean, if he's been locked up for twelve years, what would he want to do when he gets out? He's already found your dad, hasn't he? He could just want to find Harry."

James looked mollified by this idea.

"So they just think Dad's in danger then, right?" Lily asked. "He's not, though."

"Not from Sirius," Teddy said firmly. "Not ever from him."

**Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, **

"Not the way you think he lost everything,' Teddy said quietly.

**and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that. . . ."**

**There was a silence. Harry leaned still closer to the door, desperate to hear more.**

That was true, Teddy thought. He had twelve years alone with dementors to brood on his friends' deaths. He wondered just how sane Sirius really had been at this point. It would have been enough to drive even the strongest people mad with grief.

"**Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right. But you're forgetting Albus Dumbledore. I don't think anything could hurt Harry at Hogwarts while Dumbledore's headmaster. I suppose he knows about all this?"**

"Dumbledore knows about everything," Fred said with an eye-roll.

"**Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances to the school grounds. **

"What?" Teddy said sharply.

"Those _things _are going to be at Hogwarts?" Hugo asked in a squeaky voice.

"That is not safe at all!" Rose said shrilly, shivering at just the thought.

"No kidding,' Teddy fumed. "They'd just as soon suck out a kid's soul than a criminal's."

Half the group shuddered.

**He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed."**

"I can hardly believe he agreed to that," Teddy muttered.

"I suppose even he can't refuse the Minister sometimes," Rose said sourly.

"**Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're there to catch Black?"**

"They're foul, dangerous things that are by no means under anyone's control, no matter what the Ministry says," Teddy said through clenched teeth. It would be like turning the school into a prison.

"**Dumbledore isn't fond of the Azkaban guards," said Mr. Weasley heavily. "Nor am I, if it comes to that . . . **

"Who is?" James asked hollowly.

**but when you're dealing with a wizard like Black, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid."**

"He's not 'a wizard like Black'," James muttered, but not as vehemently as he might have.

"**If they save Harry —"**

"— **then I will never say another word against them," said Mr. Weasley wearily. "It's late, Molly, we'd better go up. . . ."**

**Harry heard chairs move. As quietly as he could, he hurried down the passage to the bar and out of sight. The parlor door opened, and a few seconds later footsteps told him that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were climbing the stairs.**

**The bottle of rat tonic was lying under the table they had sat at earlier. Harry waited until he heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom door close, then headed back upstairs with the bottle.**

**Fred and George were crouching in the shadows on the landing, heaving with laughter as they listened to Percy dismantling his and Ron's room in search of his badge.**

"**We've got it," Fred whispered to Harry. "We've been improving it."**

Fred chortled and even James grinned in spite of himself.

**The badge now read **_**Bighead Boy.**_

Nobody could help but laugh at that.

"Much better,' Fred said approvingly.

**Harry forced a laugh, went to give Ron the rat tonic, then shut himself in his room and lay down on his bed.**

"But Harry doesn't know that Sirius isn't trying to kill him, either," Teddy sighed miserably. This was going to be a long book. But then he thought of his father and almost hoped it would never end.

**So Sirius Black was after him. This explained everything. Fudge had been lenient with him because he was so relieved to find him alive. He'd made Harry promise to stay in Diagon Alley where there were plenty of wizards to keep an eye on him. And he was sending two Ministry cars to take them all to the station tomorrow, so that the Weasleys could look after Harry until he was on the train.**

"Well, that was a much quicker mystery than I think we've seen yet," Rose observed, blinking as everything fell into place again.

"The real mystery is why everybody thinks Sirius is evil incarnated," James said glumly.

Rose didn't say anything. She didn't like to see James's hero turned into someone he would rather avoid thinking about, but people just didn't get arrested for being squeaky-clean. And wasn't it better that he realize that now, before the truth came at them?

**Harry lay listening to the muffled shouting next door and wondered why he didn't feel more scared. **

Teddy couldn't help but smile. Even when Harry thought he ought to be scared, he wasn't.

**Sirius Black had murdered thirteen people with one curse; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley obviously thought Harry would be panic-stricken if he knew the truth. But Harry happened to agree wholeheartedly with Mrs. Weasley that the safest place on earth was wherever Albus Dumbledore happened to be. Didn't people always say that Dumbledore was the only person Lord Voldemort had ever been afraid of? Surely Black, as Voldemort's right-hand man, would be just as frightened of him?**

**And then there were these Azkaban guards everyone kept talking about. They seemed to scare most people senseless, and if they were stationed all around the school, Black's chances of getting inside seemed very remote.**

"He got past them once," Scorpius pointed out.

He was rather impressed that upon finding out that a supposed mass-murderer was after him, Harry wasn't cowering under his bed. If he knew some deranged criminal was after him, he would probably refuse to let go of his father's sleeve. But Harry didn't have a sleeve to cling to….

**No, all in all, the thing that bothered Harry most was the fact that his chances of visiting Hogsmeade now looked like zero. **

"That's what he's most worried about?" Rose asked disbelievingly. "His self-preservation levels must be dangerously out of balance!"

"Or he's just the human embodiment of bravery," James said with a hint of pride.

"Or he's a thirteen-year-old who's dealt with worse and is long used to being a target," Teddy suggested quietly.

"I like James's idea better,' Lily told him.

"Me too," Teddy admitted with a wan smile.

**Nobody would want Harry to leave the safety of the castle until Black was caught; in fact, Harry suspected his every move would be carefully watched until the danger had passed.**

"That would be extremely annoying," James grimaced.

**He scowled at the dark ceiling. Did they think he couldn't look after himself? He'd escaped Lord Voldemort three times; he wasn't completely useless. . . .**

"No one could think that, Dad," Albus paused to mumble.

"But why take the risk?" Teddy said heavily.

**Unbidden, the image of the beast in the shadows of Magnolia Crescent crossed his mind. ****What to do when you know the worst is****coming. ****. . .**

"**I'm ****not ****going to be murdered," Harry said out loud.**

That was the attitude Teddy was sure kept Harry alive, even today. That stubborn refusal to –

But he didn't even want to think it.

"**That's the spirit, dear," said his mirror sleepily.**

Albus closed the book and set it down. Glad not to have to read the next chapter. He had caught a glimpse of the picture and the title, and they were enough to make him shiver. The early morning coolness was lifting, but a foggy spray still rose from the river not far away, only adding to the effect.

"Who's going to read?"

**A/N: So… what did you think? Thanks to everyone who reviewed! We love them so much, we really do! I can't wait to get started on the next chapter, so hopefully it won't take so long to get that one up! :D **


	5. The Dementor

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the wonders of his world are quite sadly not ours. I can assure you with absolute sincerity that we gain no profit from writing this story, except the wonderful comments of our absolutely lovely reviewers. :)**

**A/N: Okay, so so sorry! I know I said we'd try to get this up soon, and we did! Honestly we did! Problems: this chapter was a lot longer than we expected it to be, and it didn't help that in the past three weeks we both got into Pottermore (Yay! :D), I started my very first competition on the HPFC (The link's on my (Morning Lilies) profile if any of you want to join! I'd love to have you) and The Son of Neptune came out (Amazing! So SO amazing!). Anyway, we're finished now. We hope you like this chapter. We're a bit nervous as so many of you have been waiting for this chapter for so long… Let us know what you think?**

Chapter Five

The Dementor

It only took a second or two, but in Teddy's mind, the debate over whether he should reach out and take the book seemed to rage much longer. He was almost positive the next chapter would hold the first words about his father in it. But would he be able to read them out loud? A strange, giddy excitement was seeping through his veins, making him feel about eight years old. He wasn't sure if he would be able to calmly read through the entire chapter and not skip right to his father's name and reread his actions and words over and over again.

But when Rose looked at him questioningly, hand inching towards the book, Teddy couldn't stop himself from grabbing it. He had to see Remus Lupin's words himself, feel them on his tongue. For once he didn't want to hear them second-hand, from someone else.

Teddy cleared his throat, feeling unreasonably nervous as he flipped to the correct chapter. He had heard this story before, after all, practically begged Harry (and Ron and Hermione and Ginny and even Neville once or twice) to tell him again and again how they had first met both of his parents. But there was something different about hearing it this way, every detail and thought recorded with utter truth.

**Chapter Five**

Teddy winced as his voice cracked slightly. But none of the others seemed very surprised. They had all either heard part of the story before, or could guess what was coming. Lily gave him an encouraging smile.

**The Dementor**

"What?" Hugo squeaked, unable to stop himself. "They're going to be in this chapter?"

"Just for a bit," Albus (who had heard his father telling Teddy about this train ride) assured him.

But Hugo didn't look very reassured. He gulped and scooted closer to Lily.

"Don't worry, Hue, I'll protect you," Lily grinned, flinging an arm around his shoulders.

Hugo flushed and pushed her arm away.

"'M not _scared_," he mumbled. "I just think they're creepy."

"They are," Lily agreed fervently. "But they aren't around here. And anyway, Teddy knows how to get rid of them, don't you Teddy?"

Teddy nodded and tried to give Hugo a reassuring smile, but he was impatient to start reading.

**Tom woke Harry the next morning with his usual toothless grin and a cup of tea. **

Fred shuddered slightly. "I'd think I was still having a nightmare if I woke up to that."

"A toothless grin might be a bit creepy," Albus agreed.

Fred gave him an odd look. "I was talking about the tea."

**Harry got dressed and was just persuading a disgruntled Hedwig to get back into her cage when Ron banged his way into the room, pulling a sweatshirt over his head and looking irritable.**

"Having to share a room with Bighead Boy might do that to a person," Fred noted, imagining what it would be like to share a room with Molly.

"**The sooner we get on the train, the better," he said. **

Teddy agreed, though, he thought, probably for a different reason.

"**At least I can get away from Percy at Hogwarts. Now he's accusing me of dripping tea on his photo of Penelope Clearwater. **

Fred shuddered again. "See? Destructive stuff, that."

**You know," Ron grimaced, "his **_**girlfriend. **_**She's hidden her face under the frame because her nose has gone all blotchy. . . ."**

Fred and James sniggered and Lily and Hugo tittered.

"I still can't believe he found a girl who could put up with him back then," Fred said in disbelief.

"**I've got something to tell you," Harry began, **

"Can't keep a secret from each other to save their lives," James sighed.

"If you thought there was a crazed prisoner after you, I'd like to think you'd tell me," Fred said in a hurt voice. "Be decent enough to at least give me the chance to get as far away from you as possible," he added slyly.

"Thanks, mate. I appreciate the solidarity," James said sarcastically.

"Aw, you know I'd leave you with the invisibility cloak."

**but they were interrupted by Fred and George, who had looked in to congratulate Ron on infuriating Percy again.**

Fred and James both snickered.

"He must have been a real prat that summer," James mused. "It seems like they're all more annoyed by him than usual."

"Well, if he was trying to act like the whole family was 'better' than he thought they were," Fred grumbled.

**They headed down to breakfast, where Mr. Weasley was reading the front page of the **_**Daily Prophet **_**with a furrowed brow and Mrs. Weasley was telling Hermione and Ginny about a love potion she'd made as a young girl. All three of them were rather giggly.**

James made a face as Lily and Rose both giggled themselves.

"You lot are as bad as Dom, Roxy, and Lucy when they get going," he informed them.

"Oh, be quiet," Lily told him dismissively.

"Wonder if Gran would tell us," Rose said thoughtfully.

"We should ask her," Lily squealed.

Hugo shook his head in disgust, looking between the two girls. "Love potions should be against the law. They take perfectly sane girls and turn them into giggly maniacs."

Lily flicked him lightly on the ear.

Teddy, who thought he was exercising a lot of self-control by reading all of this out loud at all, hurriedly continued.

"**What were you saying?" Ron asked Harry as they sat down.**

"**Later," Harry muttered as Percy stormed in.**

**Harry had no chance to speak to Ron or Hermione in the chaos of leaving; they were too busy heaving all their trunks down the Leaky Cauldron's narrow staircase and piling them up near the door, with Hedwig and Hermes, Percy's screech owl, perched on top in their cages. A small wickerwork basket stood beside the heap of trunks, spitting loudly.**

"Okay, who ticked off the basket?" Fred demanded.

"**It's all right, Crookshanks," Hermione cooed through the wickerwork. "I'll let you out on the train."**

"**You won't," snapped Ron. "What about poor Scabbers, eh?"**

**He pointed at his chest, where a large lump indicated that Scabbers was curled up in his pocket.**

**Mr. Weasley, who had been outside waiting for the Ministry cars, stuck his head inside.**

"**They're here," he said. "Harry, come on."**

**Mr. Weasley marched Harry across the short stretch of pavement toward the first of two old-fashioned dark green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet.**

"I'll bet Dad loved being marched," James muttered, grimacing. He would hate being singled out like that, like he couldn't even make it a few feet on his own.

"It was Granddad though," Lily pointed out earnestly. "I'm sure Dad knew he was just worried about him."

"It's pretty hard to get upset with Graddad," Albus agreed.

"**In you get, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, glancing up and down the crowded street.**

"Do they really think Sirius would show up in the middle of London?" James asked incredulously.

"They think he's mad," Albus pointed out dully. "And being in the middle of a crowd didn't seem to stop him last time. Or at least that's what they think."

**Harry got into the back of the car and was shortly joined by Hermione, Ron, and, to Ron's disgust, Percy.**

**The journey to King's Cross was very uneventful compared with Harry's trip on the Knight Bus. **

"Everything else is," Hugo sighed.

**The Ministry of Magic cars seemed almost ordinary, though Harry noticed that they could slide through gaps that Uncle Vernon's new company car certainly couldn't have managed. They reached King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare; the Ministry drivers found them trolleys, unloaded their trunks, touched their hats in salute to Mr. Weasley, and drove away, somehow managing to jump to the head of an unmoving line at the traffic lights.**

"Cheaters," Fred whispered loudly. "No cutting."

**Mr. Weasley kept close to Harry's elbow all the way into the station.**

"**Right then," he said, glancing around them. "Let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I'll go through first with Harry."**

"He's not being very discrete about guarding Dad, is he?" Albus observed.

"Well, he thinks Harry ought to know anyway," Rose pointed out. "And he's right. I bet Granddad goes ahead and tells your dad what's going on no matter what Fudge says."

No one thought she was wrong. Their grandfather might usually be quiet and laid-back, but he did what he thought was right, no matter what he was told.

**Mr. Weasley strolled toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, pushing Harry's trolley and apparently very interested in the InterCity 125 that had just arrived at platform nine. With a meaningful look at Harry, he leaned casually against the barrier. Harry imitated him.**

**In a moment, they had fallen sideways through the solid metal onto platform nine and three-quarters and looked up to see the Hogwarts Express, a scarlet steam engine, puffing smoke over a platform packed with witches and wizards seeing their children onto the train.**

"Much less conspicuous than running full-tilt at a solid wall," Scorpius observed.

"But so much less fun," Albus said, shaking his head with disappointment.

"I'm surprised more people don't notice the amount of children that run right through that wall," said Rose.

**Percy and Ginny suddenly appeared behind Harry. They were panting and had apparently taken the barrier at a run.**

"Always the better option," James said, grinning.

"See? Uncle Percy _can _goof off if he really wants to," Fred pointed out, happy to hear this little bit about his uncle.

"Bet Mum got him to do it," Albus guessed. "Gran says she had all her brothers wrapped around her finger, except probably Ron since they were nearly the same age."

"I wonder if she was nervous," Lily said suddenly. "About going back to school after last year."

Even Teddy managed to shake out of his state of painful anticipation to look upset.

"But she's tough," said James, carefully examining his fingers. "Mum wouldn't let that nightmare ruin Hogwarts for her."

"**Ah, there's Penelope!" said Percy, smoothing his hair and going pink again. Ginny caught Harry's eye, and they both turned away to hide their laughter as Percy strode over to a girl with long, curly hair, **

"Aw, their first inside joke," Fred cooed.

**walking with his chest thrown out so that she couldn't miss his shiny badge.**

James rolled his eyes at his uncle's behavior. Honestly.

**Once the remaining Weasleys and Hermione had joined them, Harry and Ron led the way to the end of the train, past packed compartments, to a carriage that looked quite empty. They loaded the trunks onto it, stowed Hedwig and Crookshanks in the luggage rack, then went back outside to say good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.**

Teddy could feel his heart starting to leap as they drew closer and closer to the moment he'd been waiting for practically since he'd found out about these books. It seemed to him that the closer he got to it, the more details the book packed in front of him, and they might never get to his father.

**Mrs. Weasley kissed all her children, then Hermione, and finally, Harry. He was embarrassed, but really quite pleased, when she gave him an extra hug.**

Teddy felt a small twinge for the thirteen-year-old he was reading about. He both understood and didn't understand what Harry must have been feeling. He knew what it was like to appreciate someone filling in for the parents he didn't have, but Teddy had _always _had that, to the point that he hardly thought anything of it when Ginny would enfold him in her tight, motherly hugs.

Lily smiled, pleased that her grandmother was there to kiss her father goodbye. She thought sadly that it might just be the first time anyone had done that for him.

"She must be quite worried about Dad, too," said Albus quietly, thinking along the same lines as his sister. He was glad to see that his father was finally falling in with the rest of the Weasleys. It was about time he got to feel like he was really part of a family. It was strange to think there was ever a time when Harry _hadn't _been as much a part of the family as the rest.

James was remembering how he pulled away from his mother as quickly as he could when she kissed him. He usually considered these affectionate send-offs as a mere toll to freedom. But they were something new to his father, something he had never had before…. James was just starting to appreciate the role his grandmother – the entire Weasley family, really – had taken in his father's life, why he said he owed them so much.

"**Do take care, won't you, Harry?" she said as she straightened up, her eyes oddly bright. **

The three Potters glanced at each other, knowing they had all started to realize the same thing.

Scorpius caught their looks and, guessing what they were about, felt the familiar awkwardness that came with moments like these. He felt like an intruder reading Harry's thoughts when it went beyond mere fact and action. Did he have any right to know how and why Molly Weasley came to regard her youngest son's best friend as one of her own? Of course he didn't, so he tried not to think about it, pretend he hadn't noticed.

But the trouble was, it shook loose what Teddy had said about choosing your family. Scorpius could not even contemplate what it would be like to belong to a family that was not truly his own. Who would be his family outside of his parents? What if – god forbid – something happened to them? _Was _there anyone who would fill in for him as the Weasleys had obviously done for Harry? He knew he'd be sent to live with his aunt Daphne, but would she be able to pull her head out of her books long enough to kiss him goodbye at the school train?

He quickly retreated from ponderings about life without his parents and refocused on what Teddy was reading.

**Then she opened her enormous handbag and said, "I've made you all sandwiches. . . . Here you are, Ron . . . no, they're not corned beef. . . . Fred? Where's Fred? Here you are, dear. . . ."**

"**Harry," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "come over here a moment." **

**He jerked his head toward a pillar, and Harry followed him behind it, leaving the others crowded around Mrs. Weasley.**

"See?" Rose muttered, more to herself than the rest. They had all expected it.

"**There's something I've got to tell you before you leave —" said Mr. Weasley, in a tense voice.**

"**It's all right, Mr. Weasley," said Harry. "I already know."**

"Bet he wasn't expecting that one," James said absently, still thinking about what his grandparents had done for his father.

"**You know? How could you know?"**

"He eavesdrops on everything," Rose supplied, but with a smile. "Best to learn that now."

"**I — er — I heard you and Mrs. Weasley talking last night. I couldn't help hearing," Harry added quickly. "Sorry —"**

"They've got seven kids, they won't be mad at you," Teddy couldn't help but slip in with a hint of exasperation.

"**That's not the way I'd have chosen for you to find out," said Mr. Weasley, looking anxious.**

"No, I suppose he was going to put it more gently than that," Rose sighed.

"But Dad's not scared, so it's okay," Albus reminded her.

"**No — honestly, it's okay. This way, you haven't broken your word to Fudge and I know what's going on."**

"**Harry, you must be very scared —"**

"**I'm not," said Harry sincerely. "**_**Really,**_**" he added, because Mr. Weasley was looking disbelieving. **

"Most people would," Rose mumbled. She rather thought her grandfather would have liked Harry to be more innocent than he was. Most decent people would have wanted that.

"**I'm not trying to be a hero, but seriously, Sirius Black can't be worse than Voldemort, can he?"**

**Mr. Weasley flinched at the sound of the name but overlooked it.**

"**Harry, I knew you were, well, made of stronger stuff than Fudge seems to think, and I'm obviously pleased that you're not scared, but —"**

"**Arthur!" called Mrs. Weasley, who was now shepherding the rest onto the train. "Arthur, what are you doing? It's about to go!"**

"**He's coming, Molly!" said Mr. Weasley but he turned back to Harry and kept talking in a lower and more hurried voice. "Listen, I want you to give me your word —"**

"— **that I'll be a good boy and stay in the castle?" said Harry gloomily.**

"**Not entirely," said Mr. Weasley, who looked more serious than Harry had ever seen him. **

"This is the first time Harry's really seen that side of Granddad, isn't it?" Rose realized, thinking back to the previous books. Her grandfather was such a presence in her own life that it was difficult to remember that he hadn't been in her uncle's life. Not then anyway. Maybe this, like her grandmother's hug, was the beginning of their importance in his life. Could it have been thanks to Sirius's escape that her grandparents had gotten their first nudge to treat Harry not just as Harry Potter or even (as they never seemed to have looked at his fame in the first place) as simply their son's friend?

"**Harry, swear to me you won't go **_**looking**_** for Black."**

"Why would he?" James asked slowly. "…If he thinks Sirius is out to _kill _him."

Teddy shrugged, puzzled too. "Maybe he knew Sirius was Harry's godfather…"

**Harry stared. "What?"**

**There was a loud whistle. Guards were walking along the train, slamming all the doors shut.**

Although he knew better, Teddy felt a jump of panic that Harry would miss the train again, that he wouldn't end up in the compartment with Teddy's father, and willed him to hurry up.

"**Promise me, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, talking more quickly still, "that whatever happens —"**

"**Why would I go looking for someone I know wants to kill me?" said Harry blankly.**

Teddy kept reading quickly, but the others exchanged glances, something not sitting right with Mr. Weasley's urgent warning. Was it more than just the fact that Sirius had a connection to Harry?

"**Swear to me that whatever you might hear —"**

"**Arthur, quickly!" cried Mrs. Weasley.**

**Steam was billowing from the train; it had started to move. **

_Run, _Teddy couldn't help but think.

**Harry ran to the compartment door and Ron threw it open and stood back to let him on. They leaned out of the window and waved at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley until the train turned a corner and blocked them from view.**

Although he felt a bit stupid, Teddy slumped a little with relief inside. Then a shock of that nervous anticipation swept over him and he had to stop his eyes from sweeping down the page, for surely his father must be very, very close now. What would it be like to read about him alive and real?

"**I need to talk to you in private," Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione as the train picked up speed.**

"**Go away, Ginny," said Ron.**

"Very nice, Dad," Rose sighed as Lily sputtered indignantly.

James snickered. It was exactly what he often told his little brother and sister.

"**Oh, that's nice," said Ginny huffily, and she stalked off.**

"Well, it was none of her business," James said defensively.

"But… do you think she had anybody to sit with?" Albus asked, frowning. "How many friends do you think she made last year, while she was…."

He trailed off. If it were him, he'd be terrified to be near any of his classmates. He'd be afraid that they'd be able to read what he'd done in his eyes, hear it in his voice. But, he reminded himself, his mother wasn't like him. She had been fairly popular, according to his father. She had found a way to get over it. But that train ride still couldn't have been easy.

James looked mildly guilty with that train of thought.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment, but all were full except for the one at the very end of the train.**

Teddy's heart fluttered. Everybody who had heard this story was listening closely, now. The only sound apart from Teddy's slightly hoarse voice was the swish of the river beside them.

**This had only one occupant, a man sitting fast asleep next to the window. **

"Is that him?" Hugo whispered.

Teddy nodded. The image flooded his mind's eye more vividly than it had with any other telling of the story. He felt like the scene were hovering in front of him and he might actually be able to step right into it.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione checked on the threshold. The Hogwarts Express was usually reserved for students and they had never seen an adult there before, except for the witch who pushed the food cart.**

"How come he took the train?" Hugo asked curiously. "Why didn't he just apparate?"

Teddy shook his head. He had asked Harry, searching for any tiny scrap of information he could carry around with him, but Harry hadn't been able to tell him. It was just one more of the thousands of little mysteries about his parents he would never solve, even with these books.

Lily gave Hugo a pointed look as Teddy kept reading. Apparently he should have known better than to ask that question.

**The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with gray.**

Teddy swallowed. He knew these things about his father's appearance, of course. He had plenty of pictures. But he had never heard him described physically before and somehow it was easy to let those details fade away when he was listening to a story or even looking right at the image.

The detail was bitter-sweet. When he'd been young, he'd taken to collecting stories about his parents, begging to hear them so often that he nearly had them memorized, and then writing them down in a journal he kept locked away beneath his bed where he could pour over them some more.

And where the stories were vague, he had filled in the details with his own imagination, reading them again and again until he was half-convinced it had all really happened like that. These books were going to tear down those images. But he needed that. He needed the truth, now. He was twenty years old, after all. He didn't want the sugar-coated versions of his parents' lives that allowed him to idolize them, turn them into some perfect image. He wanted to really know them.

"Is he… okay?" Scorpius asked uncertainly, talking about the man who was obviously Teddy's father. He sounded like he had been through the mill.

Everyone looked at Teddy. They could guess at the reason behind Remus's appearance, but it was not for them to say.

Teddy hesitated. "He… he had a pretty difficult life," he said finally. "Couldn't get much work, didn't have much money, pure-blood families despised him… you know."

Scorpius nodded, guessing this man had been close to Dumbledore, a strong opposition to the pure-blood agenda. He thought he understood a little more why his father's cousin would pick this man. Like mother, like daughter after all.

Teddy cleared his throat and kept reading.

"**Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron hissed as they sat down and slid the door shut, taking the seats farthest away from the window.**

Albus thought briefly of how strange it would be to find an adult on the Hogwarts Express and have to share a compartment with the strange intruder.

"**Professor R. J. Lupin," whispered Hermione at once.**

Teddy's voice caught on the name. R. J. Lupin. It looked so… familiar, printed on the page in neat black lines and curves. Somehow, it made him seem more real.

"How on earth did she know that?" James was asking incredulously.

"Good thing she's taking Divination," Fred said earnestly, fully aware of his aunt's distaste for the subject. "Must be a true seer."

"**How d'you know that?"**

"**It's on his case," she replied, pointing at the luggage rack over the man's head, where there was a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. **

"Or it could be that," Rose said, rolling her eyes. Logic almost always won out.

Teddy felt like someone had cranked up the speed in his brain. He was taking in every detail, latching onto every new fact like a magnet sucking up paperclips and holding fast. His father had carried a briefcase. He had knotted it together with string. Somehow these tiny details that no one had been able to remember or thought important enough to relate when they'd told him this story before were trying to forge a new, clearer picture of the man for him. He hoped it wouldn't be like this for him for the entire book, or sensory overload might just shut him down.

**The name**

_**Professor R. J. Lupin **_**was stamped across one corner in peeling letters.**

"**Wonder what he teaches?" said Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile.**

James found it odd to hear the name 'Professor Lupin'. It made him think of Teddy standing behind a desk at the head of a classroom rather than Teddy's father, who had always been 'Remus' to him. He had somehow forgotten that Teddy wasn't the only person to have carried his sir name.

"**That's obvious," whispered Hermione. "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."**

Rose smiled, thinking her mother was already showing aptitude for a legal career.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione had already had two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, both of whom had lasted only one year. There were rumors that the job was jinxed.**

"Your dad didn't make it more than a year, did he?" Scorpius asked.

Teddy shook his head glumly.

"What happened?" James wondered.

"Your dad says there was some sort of 'incident' and my dad decided to leave," Teddy replied. "But he's never told me exactly what that 'incident' was."

"Well, I guess now's your chance to find out," James said brightly.

Teddy half-smiled. Did he want to know? Yes, of course he did. But would he like what he heard? Harry's apprehension to tell him made him nervous.

"**Well, I hope he's up to it," said Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? **

"Mum said he was wicked in a duel," Rose murmured.

"Almost everyone Harry went to school with say he was the best teacher they had in Defense," Teddy smiled. "Must have been tougher than he looked."

**Anyway . . ." He turned to Harry. "What were you going to tell us?"**

**Harry explained all about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's argument and the warning Mr. Weasley had just given him. When he'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her mouth. **

Rose had not even thought about what her parents would think of this news, but she should have expected them to take it harder than her uncle. They, after all, had not faced Voldemort three times. She could not imagine what she would do if she heard someone had broken out of prison to come after Scorpius or Albus, or anyone she cared about. But that was the sort of thing that seemed to come along with being best friends with Harry Potter.

**She finally lowered them to say, "Sirius Black escaped to come after **_**you**_**? Oh, Harry . . . you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry —"**

"Why does everybody keep telling him that?" James asked in annoyance. His father _did _have a brain after all.

"**I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds **_**me.**_**"**

Teddy couldn't stop a small smirk from crossing his face. "He doesn't exactly make himself difficult to find, though, does he?"

"**How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said Ron shakily.**

"Exactly," James said, crossing his arms. "Er, except that Sirius isn't really a nutter."

**They were taking the news worse than Harry had expected.**

"How had he expected them to take the news that he was being hunted down by _another _murderer?" Hugo mumbled. "How would he take it if it were one of them?"

"I don't think Harry's figured out that people are usually more scared for the people they love than they are for themselves," Rose said softly.

**Both Ron and Hermione seemed to be much more frightened of Black than he was.**

"**No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," said Ron uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."**

"Sirius is just that good," James muttered, but much more half-heartedly than he usually would have.

"**But they'll catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too. . . ."**

"If Sirius can get past the dementors, I doubt any Muggle is going to see him," said Fred doubtfully.

"**What's that noise?" said Ron suddenly.**

**A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from somewhere. They looked all around the compartment.**

"**It's coming from your trunk, Harry," said Ron, standing up and reaching into the luggage rack. A moment later he had pulled the Pocket Sneakoscope out from between Harry's robes. It was spinning very fast in the palm of Ron's hand and glowing brilliantly.**

"What's that about?" Rose wondered suspiciously.

Teddy kept reading, though, impatient to hear more about his father.

"**Is that a **_**Sneakoscope**_**?" said Hermione interestedly, standing up for a better look.**

"**Yeah . . . mind you, it's a very cheap one," Ron said. "It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send it to Harry."**

"There you go, Rosie," said James. "Just a piece of junk."

"Maybe, maybe not," Rose said, frowning.

"What d'you think's setting it off then?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. "It's just my dad, your parents, and Teddy's dad in there. You think one of them is being untrustworthy?"

"They aren't the only ones who could be setting it off," Rose answered absent-mindedly, already lost in thought. "There's a whole train full of students who could be doing untrustworthy things…"  
>"So if it's just some immature kid, why do you care?"<p>

She didn't answer and James shook his head.

"**Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" said Hermione shrewdly.**

Albus was so powerfully reminded of Rose in that sentence it was almost like déjà vu. He smirked at her but she didn't seem to be paying attention.

"**No! Well . . . I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journeys . . . but how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?"**

"**Stick it back in the trunk," Harry advised as the Sneakoscope whistled piercingly, "or it'll wake him up."**

**He nodded toward Professor Lupin. **

Teddy wished they would wake his father up. It was one thing to know he was present, that he had been there for this action (such a different sensation from the many times Teddy had thought about how his parents were not around to see what he was seeing), but it would be something else entirely to hear his words, see his actions, to know how accurate Harry and the others had been when they'd told him about Remus Lupin.

**Ron stuffed the Sneakoscope into a particularly horrible pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks, which deadened the sound, **

James and Lily both wrinkled their noses, and Fred said, "Probably could use those things as lethal weapons."

**then closed the lid of the trunk on it.**

"**We could get it checked in Hogsmeade," said Ron, sitting back down. **

Hugo groaned "Bad topic, Dad."

"**They sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. Fred and George told me."**

Fred and James, however, were looking very interested in this conversation thread. In a few months, they would be going to Hogsmeade themselves.

"**Do you know much about Hogsmeade?" asked Hermione keenly. "I've read it's the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain —"**

"**Yeah, I think it is," said Ron in an offhand sort of way, "but that's not why I want to go. I just want to get inside Honeydukes!"**

"Yes!" James said excitedly, slapping a high-five with Fred. "Best part of the whole village."

"But haven't you two already been in there?" Albus asked, frowning. "The Marauders' Map…"

"Yeah," James said, waving a dismissing hand. "But that was in the middle of the night. It's different when you can go their _legally_."

"I'd've thought the illegal way would be cooler to you two," Albus muttered.

"Eh, novelty wears off after a while," Fred said unconcernedly. "It'll be something new to see the shop full of people."

"We've come full-circle," James grinned. "More of a rush to get sweets the normal way than the might-get-arrested way."

"You lot haven't been _taking _anything from there, though, right?" Teddy asked suspiciously. He had followed the passage on the map to Honeydukes only once to figure out where it went.

"We leave money," James said defensively. "We aren't criminals."

"Couldn't you just go down to the kitchens?" Rose asked exasperatedly.

"And make all those poor house-elves slave away for us?" Fred asked, feigning shock. "We're doing a good deed by breaking and entering."

Rose only shook her head.

"**What's that?" said Hermione.**

"**It's this sweetshop," said Ron, a dreamy look coming over his face, **

"_Hermione _didn't know about Honeydukes?" James said in a dumbfounded voice. "She knows the exact dates of goblin rebellions and how to make the Pollyjuice potion, but not what _Honeydukes_ is?"

"**where they've got **_**everything. **_**. . . Pepper Imps — they make you smoke at the mouth — **

"Yum," Scorpius murmured, wishing he had some right there.

"You actually like those things?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Of course!" Scorpius said, looking at her as if she had question the universal love of chocolate. "They're only one of the best sweets ever."

"They scald your whole mouth," Rose said, making a face.

Scorpius shook his head, blonde bangs falling in his eyes. "No finesse, I tell you…"

Rose rolled her eyes.

**and great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, **

"Now _those _sound wonderful," Rose said, mouth watering.

"You have weird tastes, Rose," Scorpius told her earnestly.

Lily smothered a giggle in her hand.

**and really excellent sugar quills,**

"You two are both wrong," Hugo announced, looking at his sister and her friend. "_Those _are the best. Delicious…" He got a dreamy look on his face that must have been a mirror image of his father in the book.

"Mm-mm, Hue, chocolate frogs are the best, hands-down," Lily countered.

Seeing exactly where this was going (into a long and probably heated eight way debate over the best sweets), Teddy hastily kept reading.

**which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next —"**

Hugo looked smugly at Lily as if his point had just been proven beyond the possibility of a doubt. Lily rather thought he had not received his mother's arguing skills.

"**But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it?" Hermione pressed on eagerly. "In **_**Sites of Historical Sorcery **_**it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, **

"See what I mean?" James sighed.

"Hogsmeade is a fascinating place, though," Rose insisted. "Its history is one of the richest in Wizarding Britain –"

Teddy would normally have let Rose give James a history lesson, but he didn't have the patience to talk about history when his father was so close.

**and the Shrieking Shack's supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain —"**

"Yeah, it is," Scorpius said fervently. "My dad's told me some stories…"

The others exchanged looks. They all knew the truth behind that building. Scorpius noticed.

"What?" he asked in frustration. "What do you lot all know?"

Teddy just kept reading. He did not want to pause now to explain his father's condition to Scorpius, did not want to see the look that would likely come across his face, having been raised in the household he had. He could not face that now, when he finally had found this window into Remus Lupin's life.

"— **and massive sherbet balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you're sucking them," said Ron, who was plainly not listening to a word Hermione was saying.**

"What else is new?" Fred said lightly.

Rose shook her head. So typical of her father.

**Hermione looked around at Harry.**

"**Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?"**

Albus sighed inwardly. It probably would be, but not for his father, of course.

" '**Spect it will," said Harry heavily. "You'll have to tell me when you've found out."**

"**What d'you mean?" said Ron.**

"He means the Dursleys screwed him over," James said, grinding his teeth, more angry about the Hogsmeade form now that it was apparent his father was not going to be allowed to go that year.

"**I can't go. The Dursleys didn't sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either."**

**Ron looked horrified.**

"_**You're not allowed to come**_**? But — no way — McGonagall or someone will give you permission —"**

"Fat chance," James muttered. He had really wanted a sneak peak at the village, practically jumping to wander around it as he was. He could not imagine what it would be like to watch everyone else go and be left behind.

**Harry gave a hollow laugh. Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, was very strict.**

"Where on earth is he getting that impression?" Fred wondered.

"— **or we can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle —"**

Fred looked proud. He thought there ought to be some sort of honor wall for people like his father or James's grandfather and his friends, some way to commemorate their great rule-breaking achievements. Maybe he'd start it. The Marauders' hall of fame, hidden somewhere in the castle where only those worthy of a place could find it….

"**Ron!" said Hermione sharply. "I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of school with Black on the loose —"**

"What's the point of keeping Dad alive if he can't _live_?" James said impatiently, hope of seeing the village – and more importantly hearing about his father sneaking around and having fun and generally acting like an irresponsible kid for a change – blooming in him.

"**Yeah, I expect that's what McGonagall will say when I ask for permission," said Harry bitterly.**

"He's really going to ask?" Scorpius said, impressed. He wouldn't have the nerve to approach his Headmistress for something like that. He wouldn't admit it, but Minerva McGonagall scared him just a little bit.

"**But if **_**we're **_**with him," said Ron spiritedly to Hermione, "Black wouldn't dare —"**

"You aren't that intimidating yet, Dad," Rose said, lips twitching.

"**Oh, Ron, don't talk rubbish," snapped Hermione. "Black's already murdered a whole bunch of people in the middle of a crowded street. **

James winced. That again…

**Do you really think he's going to worry about attacking Harry just because **_**we're **_**there?"**

"He would worry if he knew what was good for him," Lily murmured. She had seen the way her aunt and uncle stuck with her father. Anyone who challenged the three of them was in for quite the storm.

**She was fumbling with the straps of Crookshanks's basket as she spoke.**

"**Don't let that thing out!" Ron said, but too late; Crookshanks leapt lightly from the basket, stretched, yawned, and sprang onto Ron's knees; the lump in Ron's pocket trembled **

Lily scowled. "Why can't that stupid cat just leave the poor old rat alone?"

"He wants his prize before it goes and croaks on its own," James told her, grinning wickedly.

Lily shot him a sharp look, which he, of course, ignored.

**and he shoved Crookshanks angrily away.**

"**Get out of here!"**

"**Ron, don't!" said Hermione angrily.**

"Dad didn't seem to hate Crookshanks when I was little," Rose said thoughtfully.

"His rat was long-dead by the time you came into the picture," James told her, rolling his eyes.

**Ron was about to answer back when Professor Lupin stirred.**

Excitement leapt in Teddy's stomach again.

**They watched him apprehensively, but he simply turned his head the other way, mouth slightly open, and slept on.**

And then disappointment took its place.

**The Hogwarts Express moved steadily north and the scenery outside the window became wilder and darker while the clouds overhead thickened. **

**People were chasing backward and forward past the door of their compartment. **

Lily was once more overcome with a wave of jealousy. It would be more than a year before she got to experience this ride herself. Just watching the scenery sounded incredible.

**Crookshanks had now settled in an empty seat, his squashed face turned toward Ron, his yellow eyes on Ron's top pocket.**

_What is his problem_? Lily thought crossly. She had never known a cat to fixate so much on one rat.

**At one o'clock, the plump witch with the food cart arrived at the compartment door.**

"**D'you think we should wake him up?" Ron asked awkwardly, nodding toward Professor Lupin. "He looks like he could do with some food."**

**Hermione approached Professor Lupin cautiously.**

"**Er — Professor?" she said. "Excuse me — Professor?"**

**He didn't move.**

"He must be really out of it," James observed.

Teddy kept reading, trying not to be too impatient. He knew how this train ride would unfold eventually, but he had hoped to see what his father was like _not _in a dangerous situation. Would he joke around? Tell interesting stories? Not look like the wait of the world lay on his shoulders, as he often did in the pictures Teddy had? Most of those had been taken during the first or second war… what would he have been like outside of a war?

"**Don't worry, dear," said the witch as she handed Harry a large stack of Cauldron Cakes. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver."**

"**I suppose he **_**is **_**asleep?" said Ron quietly as the witch slid the compartment door closed. "I mean — he hasn't died, has he?"**

The unexpectedness of that line made Teddy's blood run cold for a moment. He _had _died, but not then…. The others glanced at each other in the pause, but Teddy quickly kept reading, pushing those thoughts aside. This was not the time to think about what would happen in the end.

"**No, no, he's breathing," whispered Hermione, taking the Cauldron Cake Harry passed her.**

**He might not be very good company, but Professor Lupin's presence in their compartment had its uses. **

"I'm sure Teddy's dad was _great_ company," Lily said indignantly.

Teddy smiled. "Not passed out in the corner, though, Lil."

**Midafternoon, just as it had started to rain, blurring the rolling hills outside the window, they heard footsteps in the corridor again, and their three least favorite people appeared at the door: **

Scorpius sighed inwardly, guessing quite easily who was making an appearance.

**Draco Malfoy, flanked by his cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.**

His _cronies_, Scorpius thought. That was certainly the right word for Crabbe and Goyle. They didn't really seem to be his father's friends. So who had been? Who was now? Scorpius had hated his first months of school, all alone in Slytherin. He couldn't imagine not having people like Al and Rose around to make him laugh and share his problems and just keep him company. Crabbe and Goyle had obviously defended his father, helped him, stopped him from being alone, but as far as he could tell, they hadn't really been his friends. And neither one of them was around now.

So who was? He tried to think who his father went out with, who came round the house for anything but business, but aside from his aunt Daphne and his grandmother, he couldn't think of a soul. It made him a bit sad, really.

**Draco Malfoy and Harry had been enemies ever since they had met on their very first train journey to Hogwarts. Malfoy, who had a pale, pointed, sneering face, was in Slytherin House; he played Seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team, the same position that Harry played on the Gryffindor team. **

James, bored with the recap, had begun digging in the soft ground with his fingers, looking for pebbles to build a fortress with. Scorpius barely listened to the old information, but Albus was struck by an idea so strange, it left a tingle in his spine. But for one detention last fall, this description could so easily have fitted him and his best friend. Would they have become such bitter enemies if their dislike had been allowed to escalate? What would Hogwarts have been like _then_?

**Crabbe and Goyle seemed to exist to do Malfoy's bidding. They were both wide and musclely; Crabbe was taller, with a pudding-bowl haircut and a very thick neck; Goyle had short, bristly hair and long, gorilla-ish arms.**

"**Well, look who it is," said Malfoy in his usual lazy drawl, pulling open the compartment door. "Potty and the Weasel."**

**Crabbe and Goyle chuckled trollishly.**

Apart from a few eye-rolls, nobody took much notice of this unpleasant visitor. After the previous book, they had exhausted most of their outrage for this particular person. His comments were expected.

"**I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley," said Malfoy. "Did your mother die of shock?"**

**Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks's basket to the floor. **

Rose huffed impatiently. "He's not worth it, Dad. Just ignore him and he'll go away."

**Professor Lupin gave a snort.**

"**Who's that?" said Malfoy, taking an automatic step backward as he spotted Lupin.**

"**New teacher," said Harry, who got to his feet, too, in case he needed to hold Ron back. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"**

Although James looked mildly disappointed that there would be no confrontation, Albus smirked. Round one went… well, not to Malfoy.

**Malfoy's pale eyes narrowed; he wasn't fool enough to pick a fight right under a teacher's nose.**

"**C'mon," he muttered resentfully to Crabbe and Goyle, and they disappeared.**

**Harry and Ron sat down again, Ron massaging his knuckles.**

"**I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," he said angrily. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and —"**

**Ron made a violent gesture in midair.**

"That's what I like to hear," James nodded in approval. "Stand up for yourselves. Don't let that little creep walk all over you…. Er, no offense," he added to Scorpius.

"Since when have they ever let Malfoy walk all over them?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If he still tries, they obviously haven't been forceful enough," said James.

"Getting into fights isn't going to solve anything," Rose said with dignity.

"You're one to talk," Scorpius muttered.

Rose flushed. She didn't _try _to get into any of those fights…. But Connor McLaggen didn't dish out any of his crap to her anymore, so maybe James actually had a point.

"**Ron," hissed Hermione, pointing at Professor Lupin, "be **_**careful**_**. . ."**

**But Professor Lupin was still fast asleep.**

"_Is _he though?" Fred wondered. "He seems to be breaking up a lot of fights for being practically comatose… think that might be your culprit, Rosie?"

"Why would he pretend to be asleep if he wasn't?" Hugo asked.

Fred shrugged. "He's –" he broke off, glancing at Scorpius. "Well, it is Teddy's dad after all."

Teddy wondered if Fred was right. Would his dad do something like that? Pretend to be asleep so he could, what? Listen in on Harry, Ron, and Hermione? Strangely enough, the thought made him grin. His first real glimpse at his father, and he was eavesdropping. Maybe Teddy's curiosity didn't come solely from being raised by Harry Potter.

**The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north; the windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. The train rattled, the rain hammered, the wind roared, but still, Professor Lupin slept.**

_Or didn't,_ Teddy thought, lips twitching.

"**We must be nearly there," said Ron, leaning forward to look past Professor Lupin at the now completely black window.**

Those who had heard this story before tensed. Hugo noticed with apprehension. The Dementor must be coming soon….

**The words had hardly left him when the train started to slow down.**

"**Great," said Ron, getting up and walking carefully past Professor Lupin to try and see outside. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast. . . ."**

"**We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch.**

"**So why're we stopping?"**

"Not for anything good," Albus muttered. He was starting to get nervous, too. He had only heard the vaguest stories about dementors before and even _they _were awful enough.

**The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows.**

**Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments.**

**The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.**

"What's going on?" Scorpius muttered.

The whole group was looking uneasy. They knew what was coming, and that seemed only to make it worse.

"**What's going on?" said Ron's voice from behind Harry.**

"**Ouch!" gasped Hermione. "Ron, that was my foot!"**

**Harry felt his way back to his seat.**

"**D'you think we've broken down?"**

"The Hogwarts Express has at least 39 anti-breaking charms cast on it," Rose mumbled automatically, the reflex to spit out information impossible to suppress.

"**Dunno . . ."**

**There was a squeaking sound, and Harry saw the dim black outline of Ron, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out.**

"**There's something moving out there," Ron said. "I think people are coming aboard. . . ."**

"Not people," James said darkly, and Hugo gulped.

**The compartment door suddenly opened **

Half the group jumped, expecting the dementor to swoop in.

**and someone fell painfully over Harry's legs.**

"**Sorry — d'you know what's going on? — Ouch — sorry —"**

"**Hullo, Neville," said Harry, feeling around in the dark and pulling Neville up by his cloak.**

"It's just Neville," Lily sighed, relieved.

Beside her, Hugo didn't look so relieved. He muttered something about false alarms under his breath.

"**Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"**

"**No idea — sit down —"**

**There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville had tried to sit on Crookshanks.**

Despite the tense mood of expectation, Fred and James couldn't hold back snickers. Poor Neville.

"**I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came Hermione's voice. **

"No, don't!" Hugo moaned, even though he knew it was pointless. He couldn't stand the thought of his mother wondering around a dark train by herself with dementors floating around.

**Harry felt her pass him, heard the door slide open again, and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain.**

"Do dementors squeal?" asked Lily nervously.

"I don't think so," Albus told her.

"**Who's that?"**

"**Who's **_**that**_**?"**

"**Ginny?"**

"Mum!" Albus exclaimed with relief. He'd started to get worried about her, probably all alone or with people she didn't know, especially after what had happened to her the year before. Then this happening on the train, before they'd even gotten back to school….

"**Hermione?"**

"**What are you doing?"**

"**I was looking for Ron —"**

"**Come in and sit down —"**

"**Not here!" said Harry hurriedly. "**_**I'm **_**here!"**

Fred and James sniggered again, Rose and Lily smothered giggles, and even Teddy kept reading through an amused grin.

"**Ouch!" said Neville.**

"**Quiet!" said a hoarse voice suddenly.**

The group beside the river fell instantly silent, too. Teddy blinked down at the page, that fluttering in his stomach returning. He had just read his father's words, echoed them more than twenty years later. The familiar word felt almost like something from a different language to him. And his father's voice… it had been slightly hoarse. That one tiny fact seemed to change his whole image somehow. It also made him wonder for the thousandth time how Remus Lupin's voice had sounded.

Impatient at his own fixation on details, Teddy kept reading.

**Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. Harry could hear movements in his corner. None of them spoke.**

**There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames. **

"Wicked," Fred and James breathed together.

Teddy added finding that spell to his mental to-do list. Here was proof, real proof, that his father had been a good wizard. He had never doubted it before, but it was different to hold real evidence.

**They illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes looked alert and wary.**

Teddy could see this image so clearly it was almost painful.

James could see it too. He had seen so many pictures of Teddy's dad this description didn't surprise him at all. In fact, aside from the tired, gray part, he could see a lot of Teddy in Remus. It made him feel strange, like he was losing Teddy somehow. To a family and a past that James wasn't a part of. He felt guilty for even thinking like that though; Teddy deserved to know about his own parents, but it was a sharp reminder to James that they didn't come from the same roots really, that there would always be parts of Teddy James could never understand. That they weren't really brothers….

"**Stay where you are," he said in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him.**

**But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it.**

The river bank felt suddenly much colder. Lily and Hugo drew instinctively closer together, Albus's breath caught in his chest. James froze, staring down at his fingers half-buried in the dirt.

**Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. **

A shiver ran around the group. Hugo glanced nervously at the trees clustered behind them, dimmed by the clouds covering the sun.

**Harry's eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract. **

Despite all the pictures and descriptions he'd seen (or maybe because of them), Teddy's stomach contracted, too as he read the next part.

**There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, grayish,**

**slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water. . . .**

Fred gave a real shudder and Lily squeaked like a mouse.

**But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak.**

**And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.**

"Dad – Dad says they sucked _happiness _right out of the air," Hugo said with a quaver in his voice.

Rose nodded grimly as Teddy kept reading. She did not much want to be in that train compartment.

**An intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest. The cold went deeper than his skin. It was inside his chest, it was inside his very heart. . . .**

Another shiver ran around the entire group. The mist drifting off the river felt like ice on their skin. For all that he had read, Teddy had never heard a description of their effects like this before. He had never come across a dementor and he sincerely hoped he never would have to.

**Harry's eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn't see. He was drowning in cold. **

"What's happening?" Lily demanded sharply as Teddy faltered in his reading.

"Is that what happens to everybody around a dementoer?" James asked.

Teddy shook his head and anxiously kept reading. Of all the times Harry had told him this story, he had left out these particular details.

**There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder . . . **

**And then, from far away, he heard screaming, **

Teddy stumbled over the words again. Dementors forced people to relive their worst memories. He didn't even want to think what Harry's worst memories might be… And he was definitely sure he didn't want to hear them. But he kept reading anyway, thinking nothing could be as bad as the end of the last book.

**terrible, terrified, pleading screams. **

Rose, Scorpius, and Albus looked at each other, eyes wide.

"Teddy, what's happening?" Lily asked again, grabbing onto Teddy's arm. "Is the dementor doing something? Who's screaming?"

"It must be a memory," Teddy told them with difficulty. "I don't know who… dmentors make you relive your worst memories."

That didn't seem to offer much comfort, though.

**He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms, but couldn't . . . a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside him —**

"Is this normal?" James wondered, looking a little scared. He had heard this story, too, and his father had never mentioned this part.

Teddy just shook his head and kept reading.

"**Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"**

"Obviously not," James muttered.

What on earth had happened? He knew dementors were bad news, but what was this thing _doing _to his father?

"It didn't try to suck out his soul, did it?" Albus asked, a little panicked.

Teddy paled, not having thought of this. "God, I hope not."

He didn't think his dad would let that happen, though. It was comforting to know that there was finally someone around to help Harry. Obviously most of the teachers and Dumbledore were there, but it seemed like they were never there when Harry needed someone. Maybe his dad would fix that.

**Someone was slapping his face.**

"Why?" Lily demanded, voice cracking with indignation.

"**W — what?"**

**Harry opened his eyes; there were lanterns above him, and the floor was shaking — the Hogwarts Express was moving again and the lights had come back on. He seemed to have slid out of his seat onto the floor. **

"He must have passed out," Teddy muttered uncomprehendingly. Why hadn't Harry ever bothered to mention this before? "I've never heard of anybody actually _passing out_ because of just one dementor…. Everyone feels them, but not this strongly…."

James shifted. His father had actually passed out because of this thing? That wasn't right. His dad was supposed to be able to fight off anything. He was strong. How could a bad memory suck him in like this?

"What was he remembering?" Albus wondered in a high-pitched voice.

"Whatever it was, it must have been really bad," Fred muttered, as shaken as the rest. These books had opened his eyes to all the awful things his uncle must have seen before he was even thirteen. What would involve such horrible, terrified screaming?

Teddy looked grim and pensive, but he returned to the book, hoping for more answers. His dad was there, after all. He could explain this.

**Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to him, and above them he could see Neville and Professor Lupin watching.**

Rose felt a wave of sympathy for her uncle. It was bad enough passing out, but even worse with a whole group of people watching you. It had happened to her when her gran and granddad Granger had taken her to some expose in London. A dental expose with too many people in an over-heated ballroom with all kinds of pictures of nerves and medical things… she felt dizzy just remembering it. But the worst part was waking up with a bunch of strangers pressing in on her. She'd wanted to pass out again.

**Harry felt very sick; when he put up his hand to push his glasses back on, he felt cold sweat on his face.**

"Must've been one hell of a memory," James mumbled.

**Ron and Hermione heaved him back onto his seat.**

"**Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously.**

"**Yeah," said Harry, **

"Doesn't sound like it," Albus said uneasily.

**looking quickly toward the door. The hooded creature had vanished. **

"Thank Merlin," Hugo said fervently.

"**What happened? Where's that — that thing? Who screamed?"**

"**No one screamed," said Ron, more nervously still.**

_Someone did_, Rose thought, though she didn't want to say it out loud. _Just not in that compartment that night…. _She wondered who it had been.

**Harry looked around the bright compartment. Ginny and Neville looked back at him, both very pale.**

"**But I heard screaming —"**

**A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.**

"Er," James said. "Snack break?"

"Chocolate is the best thing after being around a dementor," Teddy explained. "Something about releasing chemicals in the brain, Hermione says."

"**Here," he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."**

A sudden and vivid flashback swept over Teddy; Harry sliding a mug of hot chocolate into his hands after they had had a huge row. 'Here, drink it. It'll help." Then his lips had quirked in that way that meant Teddy was missing out on a private joke. This must have been what he was thinking of. The memory was suddenly colored in a whole new light.

**Harry took the chocolate but didn't eat it.**

"Those public service videos must have made an impression," Rose muttered, surprising herself at the attempt at humor. "Don't take sweets from strangers."

Albus, James, Hugo, and Lily smiled slightly, and Fred winked at her, though he didn't know exactly what a public service video was.

"**What was that thing?" he asked Lupin.**

"**A dementor," said Lupin, who was now giving chocolate to everyone else. "One of the dementors of Azkaban."**

Teddy found it very odd to hear Harry calling his father 'Lupin' rather than Remus. Lupin was what his friends and classmates called _him_. Harry had always called his father 'Remus'.

**Everyone stared at him. Professor Lupin crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket.**

"**Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me . . ."**

**He strolled past Harry and disappeared into the corridor.**

Teddy couldn't help but be impressed with how calm and in-control his father was, knowing what to do and taking care of things. If he'd been the only adult in a compartment full of kids when a dementor showed up, he doubted he'd come out of it that calmly, especially if one of them had passed out.

"**Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Hermione, watching Harry anxiously.**

"He must look awful," Lily guessed, frowning.

"**I don't get it. . . . What happened?" said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face.**

"**Well — that thing — the dementor — stood there and looked around (I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face) — and you — you —"**

"**I thought you were having a fit or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching —"**

A few of them exchanged worried looks.

"**And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away. . . ."**

This was almost word-for-word the story Teddy was used to hearing. Everybody skated over the fact that Harry had been passed out, twitching on the floor while this was happening. It was such a huge detail to overlook, and though he had been looking for information about his father in that story, the fact that it had been left out made Teddy feel as if he'd been lied to.

The feeling was becoming all too familiar. These books hadn't revealed any blatant lies, but they had unearthed so much 'missing' information, it was starting to feel like everything they'd been told was wrong, or at least incomplete. The new knowledge changed everything so much, they might as well not have been told anything anyway.

"**It was horrible," said Neville, in a higher voice than usual. "Did**

**feel how cold it got when it came in?"**

"**I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again. . . ."**

"They're _foul_ things," Rose said emphatically.

**Ginny, who was huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry felt, gave a small sob; **

"Mum," Lily whimpered.

None of them had to guess what Ginny had remembered.

Teddy felt a resurgence of anger at Lucius Malfoy for what he had done to Ginny, how she would never be able to forget it.

Rose noticed sadly that there was finally someone who had nearly as haunting an experience as Harry to carry around with them. She wondered if that was part of what had drawn them to each other, having someone else that could understand their demons.

**Hermione went over and put a comforting arm around her.**

"**But didn't any of you — fall off your seats?" said Harry awkwardly.**

"**No," said Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though. . . ."**

Albus grimaced, both at what Ron had said about his mother and in sympathy with his father's position. Albus was the sort of person who would faint when no one else did, or whatever else was embarrassing and made him feel like a sissy.

**Harry didn't understand. He felt weak and shivery, as though he were recovering from a bad bout of flu; he also felt the beginnings of shame. Why had he gone to pieces like that, when no one else had?**

"Because you've seen a lot more horrible things than the rest," Rose said fiercely. Harry had nothing to be ashamed about. He could no more have helped how the dementor affected him than he could forget whatever it was he was remembering.

James, however, didn't join in with the murmurs of assent echoing around the group. His father shouldn't let things like that happen to him. He had to be the invincible one, he always was. He couldn't afford to drown in his demons. Avoiding looking at the others, James worked on digging a mote for his pebble fortress as Teddy continued reading.

**Professor Lupin had come back. **

That mere sentence was enough to make Teddy grin widely.

**He paused as he entered, looked around, and said, with a small smile, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know. . . ."**

**Harry took a bite and to his great surprise felt warmth spread suddenly to the tips of his fingers and toes.**

"Chocolate's the answer to everything," Lily mumbled so quietly that only Teddy and Hugo heard her. Hugo grinned and the corners of Teddy's mouth twitched. It was an old joke among Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.

"**We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," said Professor Lupin. "Are you all right, Harry?"**

**Harry didn't ask how Professor Lupin knew his name.**

"He's Harry Potter," Fred pointed out. "Everybody knows his name."

"But Dad especially," Teddy said, wondering when his father would let on how close he had been to Harry's parents.

"**Fine," he muttered, embarrassed.**

"Exactly the sort of first impression he wanted to make on the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, passing out," said Scorpius, wincing in sympathy.

**They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.**

"It seems like it's always raining on the first day of term," James noted, remembering how soaked he'd gotten on his boat ride across the lake. (Of course that might possibly also have been due to how he, Fred, and their friend Aaron had spent the trip trying to get the giant squid to surface).

"**Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice. **

"Hagrid," Hugo told them unnecessarily.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.**

"**All righ', you three?" Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowd. They waved at him, but had no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around them was shunting them away along the platform. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled, Harry could only assume, by an invisible horse, because when they climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession.**

"No one's told him about the theastrals?" Albus asked.

"Believe it or not, most kids don't ever know they're there," Teddy told him. _Lucky them_, he added to himself. It meant no one they knew had witnessed death while they were still in school.

**The coach smelled faintly of mold and straw. Harry felt better since the chocolate, but still weak. Ron and Hermione kept looking at him sideways, as though frightened he might collapse again.**

"Not exactly making him feel any better," Rose muttered to her parents, though obviously they wouldn't hear her.

"It must've freaked them out pretty bad," said Hugo.

**As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, Harry saw two more towering, hooded dementors, standing guard on either side. A wave of cold sickness threatened to engulf him again; **

Everybody looked tense again, having no desire to hear more about that terrible screaming, nor for Harry to collapse again.

**he leaned back into the lumpy seat and closed his eyes until they had passed the gates. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; **

They relaxed slightly.

"I can't believe those things are guarding the school!" Teddy said bitterly, even more furious about it than he had been before now that he knew what they did to Harry. "Did they ever think about kids who have horrible things in their past? They aren't keeping Sirius out, they're keeping the rest _in_, trapped in their own horrors. It's sick."

He had to take a deep breath before he could return to the book.

**Hermione was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and Hermione and Ron got out.**

**As Harry stepped down, a drawling, delighted voice sounded in his ear.**

"**You **_**fainted, **_**Potter? Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually **_**fainted**_**?"**

"Neville!" James groaned as Scorpius sighed heavily. "What was he doing telling _him_?"

"Neville wouldn't have done it on purpose," Rose said defensively. "But, well, he doesn't seem to be the best at being discrete, yet, does he? Malfoy was probably listening in on him talking to Ginny about it or something."

"Why'd they have to talk about it at all?" James grumbled.

"If you saw one of your friends blacking out like that, would you be able to just forget about it?"

"Well I wouldn't go blabbing about it to the whole school!"

"It wasn't the whole school!"

Teddy read over their bickering.

**Malfoy elbowed past Hermione to block Harry's way up the stone steps to the castle, his face gleeful and his pale eyes glinting maliciously.**

"Evil little creep," Fred muttered. Exchanging insults was one thing, but kicking someone while they were down was something else. If Malfoy had been through half of what his uncle had been, he'd have been reduced to a sniveling heap for sure. Someone needed to smack that kid.

"**Shove off, Malfoy," said Ron, whose jaw was clenched.**

"Tell him, Dad," Rose muttered, scowling.

"**Did you faint as well, Weasley?" said Malfoy loudly. "Did the scary old dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"**

Fred looked hopeful that Ron might deliver the smack he himself could not.

"**Is there a problem?" said a mild voice. Professor Lupin had just gotten out of the next carriage.**

"Professor Lupin to the rescue," Lily said, winking at Teddy. "Bet he sounds just like you did when you were Head Boy."

"I can only hope so," Teddy told her.

Fred looked disappointed that there would be no smacking.

**Malfoy gave Professor Lupin an insolent stare, which took in the patches on his robes and the dilapidated suitcase. With a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice, he said, "Oh, no — er — **_**Professor,**_**" then he smirked at Crabbe and Goyle and led them up the steps into the castle.**

Teddy felt the sting of these words more keenly than he expected to. Draco Malfoy would, of course, despise his father, but that didn't mean he'd like hearing what an insulting little git he would be. It felt to Teddy like an insult to his father's memory, even though he'd been alive and well when it had been dealt.

Beside him, Lily was fuming. "He should get detention for acting like that to a professor! Especially someone like Teddy's dad!"

Trying to let the subtle comment roll of his shoulders, Teddy smiled. "It's okay, Lily. Dad wouldn't let a twerp like that get under his skin."

"He's still a twerp," Lily sniffed, crossing her arms.

**Hermione prodded Ron in the back to make him hurry, and the three of them joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.**

**The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; Harry followed the crowd toward it, but had barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called, "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"**

The group exchanged bewildered looks.

**Harry and Hermione turned around, surprised. Professor McGonagall, **

"Uh-oh," Fred said ominously. "Better run for the hills!"

**Transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor House, was calling over the heads of the crowd. She was a stern-looking witch who wore her hair in a tight bun; her sharp eyes were framed with square spectacles. Harry fought his way over to her with a feeling of foreboding: Professor McGonagall had a way of making him feel he must have done something wrong.**

"I know what you mean, mate," Fred agreed fervently.

"But usually you _have _done something wrong," Albus pointed out.

Fred shrugged.

"**There's no need to look so worried — **

Rose, Albus, and Scorpius exchanged smirks. Professor McGonagall must have to say that a lot.

**I just want a word in my office," she told them. "Move along there, Weasley."**

"What's that about?" Hugo wondered.

The rest shrugged.

**Ron stared as Professor McGonagall ushered Harry and Hermione away from the chattering crowd; they accompanied her across the entrance hall, up the marble staircase, and along a corridor.**

**Once they were in her office, a small room with a large, welcoming fire, Professor McGonagall motioned Harry and Hermione to sit down. She settled herself behind her desk and said abruptly, "Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train, Potter."**

"Great," James groaned "Now they're all going to be treating him like he's something _fragile_."

His father was anything _but _fragile.

"Well, there might be something wrong with him," Rose said anxiously. "I mean, Teddy says it's not normal for someone to get all sick and shaky and pass out like that. What if the dementor did something to him?"

"He's fine," James insisted.

**Before Harry could reply, there was a soft knock on the door and Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, came bustling in.**

**Harry felt himself going red in the face. It was bad enough that he'd passed out, or whatever he had done, without everyone making all this fuss.**

"**I'm fine," he said, "I don't need anything —"**

"See?" James said pointedly.

But Rose looked unconvinced. "My gran – Mum's mum – she told us about this one boy who fell off his bike and hit his head and his parents wanted to take him to the hospital to make sure he was okay, but he said he felt fine and it would be pointless, so they didn't. And you know what happened to him? He went to bed and he didn't wake up. He _died _all because he thought he was fine and wouldn't let anyone make sure!"

"But Dad _is_ fine," James told her, rolling his eyes.

"_Now_," said Rose. "But he might not have been. You should always make sure."

"**Oh, it's you, is it?" said Madam Pomfrey, ignoring this and bending down to stare closely at him. "I suppose you've been doing something dangerous again?"**

"Unfortunately, no," Fred sighed.

Rose and Albus looked at each other, smirking slightly. Harry had already gotten a reputation with the nurse.

"**It was a dementor, Poppy," said Professor McGonagall.**

**They exchanged a dark look, and Madam Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly.**

"**Setting dementors around a school," she muttered, pushing back Harry's hair and feeling his forehead. "He won't be the last one who collapses. Yes, he's all clammy. Terrible things, they are, and the effect they have on people who are already delicate —"**

James scowled, but Teddy laughed. "I'll bet Harry loved that."

"**I'm not delicate!" said Harry crossly.**

Teddy laughed again. It was too easy to picture his thirteen-year-old godfather in that moment.

"**Of course you're not," said Madam Pomfrey absentmindedly, now taking his pulse.**

"He's not," James felt the need to insist.

"**What does he need?" said Professor McGonagall crisply. "Bed rest? Should he perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?"**

"No," said James at once. "Can you imagine what everybody would be like if he spent the first night in the hospital wing? Even _McGonagall's_ acting like they need to pad the corridors for him or something."

"**I'm **_**fine**_**!" said Harry, jumping up. The thought of what Draco Malfoy would say if he had to go to the hospital wing was torture.**

"**Well, he should have some chocolate, at the very least," said Madam Pomfrey, who was now trying to peer into Harry's eyes.**

Teddy smirked again. According to the rest of the Auror department (and Ginny), Harry was still just as difficult around Healers.

"**I've already had some," said Harry. "Professor Lupin gave me some. He gave it to all of us."**

"**Did he, now?" said Madam Pomfrey approvingly. "So we've finally got a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies?"**

Teddy looked pleased by the praise. People had told him his father was sensible and smart. It was good to know they weren't just saying it to make Teddy happy.

"**Are you sure you feel all right, Potter?" Professor McGonagall said sharply.**

"Such gentle, motherly instincts she has," Fred sniggered.

"She just knows how to deal with him," Rose said wisely. "And, erm, also I don't think gentile exactly comes naturally to McGonagall most of the time."

"_**Yes**_**," said Harry.**

"**Very well. Kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her course schedule, then we can go down to the feast together."**

"What's _that _about?" Fred asked with raised eyebrows.

"Probably telling Mum she can't take all those classes," Rose guessed.

**Harry went back into the corridor with Madam Pomfrey, who left for the hospital wing, muttering to herself. **

"She does that a lot," Fred commented. "Especially when we're around," he added, indicating himself and James.

**He had to wait only a few minutes; then Hermione emerged looking very happy about something, **

Rose looked surprised. She had expected her mother to be disappointed. She glanced at her friends, but Albus and Scoprius just shrugged back at her. Teddy had raised an eyebrow, too, but none of the others seemed very interested. Apparently Fred's curiosity about course schedules had died.

**followed by Professor McGonagall, and the three of them made their way back down the marble staircase to the Great Hall.**

**It was a sea of pointed black hats; each of the long House tables was lined with students, their faces glimmering by the light of thousands of candles, which were floating over the tables in midair. Professor Flitwick, who was a tiny little wizard with a shock of white hair, was carrying an ancient hat and a three-legged stool out of the hall.**

"**Oh," said Hermione softly, "we've missed the Sorting!"**

"Again?" Fred looked disappointed. He rather liked watching the Sortings. Plenty of gambling opportunities.

**New students at Hogwarts were sorted into Houses by trying on the Sorting Hat, which shouted out the House they were best suited to (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin). Professor McGonagall strode off toward her empty seat at the staff table, and Harry and Hermione set off in the other direction, as quietly as possible, toward the Gryffindor table. People looked around at them as they passed along the back of the hall, and a few of them pointed at Harry. Had the story of his collapsing in front of the dementor traveled that fast?**

James grimaced at the thought of the whole school really knowing about it while Albus sighed in sympathy.

**He and Hermione sat down on either side of Ron, who had saved them seats.**

Hugo nodded in approval. "Don't be like John Branko," he said, crossing his arms.

Rose rolled her eyes at her little brother. John Branko had been Hugo's friend at the Muggle primary school their mother insisted on sending both of them two for at least the last two years before they went to Hogwarts. Hugo was still upset because he'd stayed late to help his teacher organize the art supplies and when he'd gotten down to the picnic tables where his class was eating lunch, John was already sitting with a bunch of other boys and hadn't saved Hugo a seat. Hugo had ended up having to sit alone for the rest of the term after that.

"Haven't you noticed Mum and Dad had more complicated lives than your stupid nine-year-old drama?" Rose asked, perhaps a little more impatiently than she ordinarily was with her brother. She had had to hear him rant about John Branko for the entire Easter Holidays when she'd come home.

"He's a git," Hugo muttered. "Friends aren't supposed to ditch you like that."

"**What was all that about?" he muttered to Harry.**

**Harry started to explain in a whisper, but at that moment the headmaster stood up to speak, and he broke off.**

**Professor Dumbledore, though very old, always gave an impression of great energy. **

"I really wish I could have met him," Albus mumbled. But these books were as close as he would be able to get to knowing his namesake.

**He had several feet of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose. He was often described as the greatest wizard of the age, but that wasn't why Harry respected him. You couldn't help trusting Albus Dumbledore, and as Harry watched him beaming around at the students, he felt really calm for the first time since the dementor had entered the train compartment.**

"Dad always said he was a lot more than just brilliant," said Albus quietly. "He said he didn't name me after some genius…"

At the time, Albus hadn't really understood how he could be named after Albus Dumbledore and not be named after a genius, but this description explained it a little better to him.

"**Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast. . . ."**

**Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."**

Teddy gritted his teeth as he read this.

**He paused, and Harry remembered what Mr. Weasley had said about Dumbledore not being happy with the dementors guarding the school.**

"**They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly, **

"What d'you reckon he means by that?" Fred asked mock-pensively.

**and Harry and Ron glanced at each other. "It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors," he said.**

**Percy, who was sitting a few seats down from Harry, puffed out his chest again and stared around impressively. **

Fred scrunched up his face in distaste.

**Dumbledore paused again; he looked very seriously around the hall, and nobody moved or made a sound.**

"**On a happier note," he continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year.**

"**First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."**

**There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Only those who had been in the compartment on the train with Professor Lupin clapped hard, Harry among them. **

Those sitting beside the river decided to make up for the lack of enthusiasm. Teddy grinned as Fred wolf-whistled above the others' cheers.

**Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes.**

"**Look at Snape!" Ron hissed in Harry's ear.**

"He wanted the Defense post, didn't he?" Rose remembered. "He can't be happy that he missed out again."

"No, especially to my dad," Teddy muttered.

**Professor Snape, the Potions master, was staring along the staff table at Professor Lupin. It was common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, but even Harry, who hated Snape, was startled at the expression twisting his thin, sallow face. It was beyond anger: it was loathing. Harry knew that expression only too well; it was the look Snape wore every time he set eyes on Harry.**

Albus squirmed at the description of his second namesake. He couldn't understand why he had been settled with that name. The more he found out about the man, the more the name weighed on him like a nasty, dark cloak that he couldn't shed.

It was a testament to what James was discovering about his own namesake, however, that he didn't even glance at his brother while Teddy read the passage.

"**As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. **

Snorts rippled around the group.

"I'd feel really confident around dangerous creatures in his hands… er, hand, maybe," said Fred.

**However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid,**

They all erupted with cheers again. Hagrid really deserved to be a teacher. Especially after what had happened the year had to almost shout to be heard as he kept reading.

**who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another, stunned. Then they joined in with the applause, which was tumultuous at the Gryffindor table in particular. Harry leaned forward to see Hagrid, who was ruby-red in the face and staring down at his enormous hands, his wide grin hidden in the tangle of his black beard.**

"Oh, Hagrid," said Lily, smiling.

"**We should've known!" Ron roared, pounding the table. "Who else would have assigned us a biting book?"**

"Not a soul," Fred crowed happily.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the last to stop clapping, **

"Course they were," James said proudly.

**and as Professor Dumbledore started speaking again, they saw that Hagrid was wiping his eyes on the tablecloth.**

"**Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"**

**The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Harry, suddenly ravenous, helped himself to everything he could reach and began to eat.**

**It was a delicious feast; the hall echoed with talk, laughter, and the clatter of knives and forks. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, were eager for it to finish so that they could talk to Hagrid. They knew how much being made a teacher would mean to him. Hagrid wasn't a fully qualified wizard; he had been expelled from Hogwarts in his third year for a crime he had not committed. It had been Harry, Ron, and Hermione who had cleared Hagrid's name last year.**

**At long last, when the last morsels of pumpkin tart had melted from the golden platters, Dumbledore gave the word that it was time for them all to go to bed, and they got their chance.**

"**Congratulations, Hagrid!" Hermione squealed as they reached the teachers' table.**

"**All down ter you three," said Hagrid, wiping his shining face on his napkin as he looked up at them. "Can' believe it . . . great man, Dumbledore . . . came straight down to me hut after Professor Kettleburn said he'd had enough. . . . It's what I always wanted. . . ."**

"He deserved it," Lily said as Hugo nodded beside her.

"Bet it was kind of like a slap in Fudge's face," Fred said with glee. "The moment Hagrid gets released from Azkaban, Dumbledore promotes him. Bet Fudge felt pretty stupid."

"We can only hope," James said slightly vindictively.

**Overcome with emotion, he buried his face in his napkin, and Professor McGonagall shooed them away.**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined the Gryffindors streaming up the marble staircase and, very tired now, along more corridors, up more and more stairs, to the hidden entrance to Gryffindor Tower. A large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress asked them, "Password?"**

"**Coming through, coming through!" Percy called from behind the crowd. "The new password's 'Fortuna Major'!"**

"**Oh no," said Neville Longbottom sadly. He always had trouble remembering the passwords.**

**Through the portrait hole and across the common room, the girls and boys divided toward their separate staircases. Harry climbed the spiral stair with no thought in his head except how glad he was to be back. **

"Us too," James mumbled, remembering the Dursleys with a scowl.

**They reached their familiar, circular dormitory with its five four-poster beds, and Harry, looking around, felt he was home at last.**

As Teddy shut the book, Albus felt a mix of pity and happiness for Harry. Hogwarts was a magnificent place, but Albus didn't think there was anywhere he liked better than his own home outside of Godric's Hollow, with his mother's rough drafts for her articles strewn everywhere, his father's favorite photographs plastering the walls, and his brother and sister clattering around like elephants, banging things and shouting across the house.

"So…" Teddy said, setting the book down. There was an odd mix of contentment and unease swirling in him. Remus Lupin was finally in the story, finally there where Teddy could read all about him, feel for just a little while like he was not such a complete stranger. But Harry had passed out to pleading screams. Who's pleading screams? Why _had _he gone to pieces like that when no one else had? It didn't bode well, especially with dementors circling the school.

"So it should be an interesting year," Fred finished. "My turn, I reckon."

**A/N: So… was it worth the wait? I really hope we did okay! In other news, remember the competition I mentioned above? Well, basically I've got a bunch of weasley family relationships and a bunch of prompt words and if you wanted to try to write a story about, oh, I don't know, a couple cousins or in-laws or Molly and Arthur and their grandchildren or an aunt/uncle-nephew/niece sort of thing, I'd really like it if you checked out the competition! Thanks! :) Next chapter's long, too, but we'll try to get it up for you as soon as we can! **


	6. Talons and Tealeaves

**Disclaimer: What we own: 0. What JK Rowling owns: THE WHOLE FREAKING UNIVERSE! (er, the Harry Potter one, anyway). **

**A/N: I would say sorry with all the sincerity in me for the delayed update, but it's 4:30 in the morning and I just got chewed out for being up this late and I'm about to fall asleep at my keyboard so I hope this chapter is enough of an apology. I really didn't think it would get done this weekend, but then I stayed up typing for like six hours straight and finished it. **

**But before I sign off, I have to say to our last anonymous reviewer that I'm not sure if we should be flattered or irritated by you. You obviously must like our story, but we work as hard as we can to get updates out when we can. Unfortunately we have lives and homework and families that get in the way. But just so you know, it was thanks to your galvanizing review that I made the effort to get this done. **

Chapter Six

Talons and Tealeaves

Fred reached for the book, but Rose stopped him with half a glance in Teddy's direction.

"It's nearly ten thirty," she said. "We've been sitting here for over two hours. How about a quick intermission?"

Without waiting for a consensus, Rose stood up and grabbed Lily's hand. "We can get some wildflowers to make crowns with," she said brightly, dragging Lily up and towards some purple blooms.

"Er, alright," James said, raising an eyebrow. "I guess we're taking a break."

He sprang lightly to his feet and jumped to grab a low branch in the tree beside them, swinging off of it like a monkey. James was not meant to sit still and quiet for this long. It wasn't long before Fred had joined him in acrobatics, Hugo had wondered after his sister and Lily, and Albus and Scorpius had drifted off, too.

Teddy sprawled backwards on the blanket, staring up at the swirling clouds, and released a gusty breath. The corner of the book jabbed into the side of his leg, as if it were in cahoots with Rose, too. He knew what she was doing, giving him a little time before they moved on. After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed the book again and flipped through the pages his father's words were printed on, trying to hear them in his voice.

XxX

James smirked as he caught sight of his brother sitting at the edge of the river. Albus and Scorpius were engrossed in a heated debate about Quidditch (what else?). It was too perfect an opportunity for him to pass up. He tried, really he did, to be what Rose would call 'mature', but he just couldn't stop himself.

Fred was the only one that noticed James swing lightly out of the tree and land soundlessly on the grass. He glanced around cautiously, but Teddy had his nose buried in the last chapter of the book, and Rose and Lily were too busy filling Hugo's arms with wildflowers to pay any attention to him. He grinned to himself and began to creep towards his brother.

"France couldn't catch the Snitch if it flew straight up De Langlaid's sleeve," Albus was scoffing.

"And that might be a problem if Practor could block a goal to save his life," Scorpius shot back, rolling his eyes. "Even the best offense falls flat with no defense."

By the time Albus looked around, it was too late. James was already right behind him.

"Look out below!' James shouted, and he gave his little brother a shove between the shoulder blades.

Albus flew forward, flailing his arms wildly, and landed with a loud _SPLASH _in the water a few feet below.

"Al!" Scorpius nearly screamed, horror washing over his face as his friend disappeared beneath the churning surface, swallowed up by the current.

But a second later, Albus's dark head had bobbed back up again, sputtering and shaking water out of his eyes.

"You prat, James!" he yelled towards his cackling brother, beginning to paddle back towards the shore.

"Sorry, dear brother," James called back, not sounding sorry at all. "Must have slipped!"

Fred joined them, snorting with laughter, and he and James bent down to haul Albus out of the water. When he reached the outcropping of rock, Albus seized James's outstretched arm, but instead of allowing himself to be pulled up, he gave an almighty tug, and James lurched forward and fell on top of him into the water.

"Al! You little git!" James shouted the moment his head broke the surface and he caught sight of his smirking brother.

But James was grinning as he lunged at Albus and shoved him under the surface. A second later, he caught a face-full of water and Albus popped back up again, splashing.

The rest had all gathered around Scorpius and Fred to see what was happening. Lily, Hugo, and Fred were cheering as Albus and James leapt on each other's backs and swept waves into each other's faces, rolling and ducking, shouting and spluttering. When the boys got dangerously close to the middle of the river, where the current picked up force and the bottom dropped steeply away, Teddy decided to call a halt to the roughhousing.

"Where're your glasses, Al?" Rose asked as they pulled him and James up the steep bank.

"At the bottom of the river somewhere," Albus said through chattering teeth "They fell off."

He shot a glower in his brother's direction, but it was half-hearted because he had already got his revenge. James gave him a cheeky solute in return, smirking.

"Accio Al's glasses!" Teddy cried, raising his wand.

There was a faint splash, and a few seconds later, a pair of round glasses shot into Teddy's hand. He passed them to Al and raised his wand again.

"You know, I should just leave you two dripping," Teddy told them, smirking when they both burst into protest, shivering in the still-cool morning air. "It's your own faults you're soaked," he said even as he waived his wand, laughing.

"You mean it's James's fault," Albus corrected, rolling his eyes. "Like _always_."

"Not _always_," James said indignantly, shaking his newly-dried bangs out of his eyes. "Only most of the time."

"Can we start reading again," Lily interrupted impatiently, now that the action was over.

"Sure thing, Bud," Teddy agreed easily, and the two of them led the way back towards the blanket.

"Coming, Scorp?" Rose asked because Scorpius had made no move to follow the group.

Albus stopped and looked back at him too. Scorpius was wide-eyed and paler than usual.

"Are you okay?" he asked, staring at Al.

Albus and Rose exchanged looks.

"Yeah," said Albus slowly. "Are you?"

Scorpius swallowed and ducked his head, nodding. Without looking at his friends, he headed for the blanket.

Fred already had the book open to the next chapter and was waiting impatiently for them to sit down.

"This is chapter six and it's called 'Talons and Tealeaves," he announced.

"Sounds like they'll be starting some new classes," Rose said eagerly. How many people got the opportunity to preview classes before they decided which to take? She only wished her uncle had taken Ancient Ruins or Arithmancy.

"Yippee," James said dully.

"I dunno, maybe we'll find out why everyone's so against Divination in this chapter," Teddy said interestedly. Because he hadn't taken it, Rob hadn't taken it, and then neither did the rest of their friends.

Fred cleared his throat dramatically and began to read.

**When Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next day, the first thing they saw was Draco Malfoy, **

"Too early in the morning for that," James grimaced.

Scorpius didn't seem to hear.

**who seemed to be entertaining a large group of Slytherins with a very funny story. As they passed, Malfoy did a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit and there was a roar of laughter.**

James gritted his teeth, sure he knew what that was about. Rose sighed. Of course Malfoy wouldn't let that go easily.

"**Ignore him," said Hermione, who was right behind Harry. "Just ignore him, it's not worth it. . . ."**

"Easier said than done," Teddy mumbled ruefully, remembering how many times he'd been told _that _in school.

"Maybe if you listened to your mother, you wouldn't have had to fertilize the vegetable patches with McLaggen," Albus murmured to Rose.

Rose looked unabashed. "He's a git," she murmured back. "I'd fertilize the entire Forbidden Forest if I could slap him again. But I don't think Neville will ever put us in detention together again."

Albus smirked. "I don't think any sane teacher would, after what happened."

"What happened?" Hugo, who neither of them had noticed sitting at Rose's elbow, whispered curiously.

"Mind your own business, squirt," Rose told him, cuffing him on the back of the head, but she was smirking, too.

"**Hey, Potter!" shrieked Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl with a face like a pug. **

Scorpius, showing the first sign that he was listening at all, made a face.

"Not a fan of Pansy Parkinson's?" Rose asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Scorpius nearly gaged. "No!" he said emphatically, shaking his head. "She comes 'round every now and then, pretends like she's friends with my mother or my aunt, and pinches my cheeks and says how _adorable _I am like I'm five or something, and Dad gets all _weird_. She likes being around _money_. Mum says she likes pretending; being around what she hasn't got. Mum says we should pity her, but I just wish she'd leave us alone."

He grimaced again for good measure, shaking his head as if he could shake out the thought of Pansy Parkinson.

Scorpius abruptly realized that the group was staring at him. He had scarcely offered any personal information outside of his feelings about what his family was doing in the books.

"So," James said decisively after a second. "We don't like Pansy Parkinson. Big surprise there."

Fred gave a quick nod of affirmation before continuing to read and Scorpius blinked. Had they just taken up a cause for him?

"**Potter! The dementors are coming, Potter! **_**Woooooooo**_**!"**

"Okay, we _really _don't like her," Fred amended as James and Albus scowled and a stormy look crossed Lily's face.

**Harry dropped into a seat at the Gryffindor table, next to George Weasley.**

"**New third-year course schedules," said George, passing them over. "What's up with you, Harry?"**

"The Slytherins are just exploiting Harry's traumatic past," Teddy muttered irritably. It reminded him too much of the end of his own third year.

"**Malfoy," said Ron, sitting down on George's other side and glaring over at the Slytherin table.**

**George looked up in time to see Malfoy pretending to faint with terror again.**

"**That little git," he said calmly. **

"Hear, hear," Fred and James both chorused.

"Dad's got him pegged," Fred said approvingly.

"**He wasn't so cocky last night when the dementors were down at our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"**

"**Nearly wet himself," said Fred, with a contemptuous glance at Malfoy.**

James couldn't help but snicker unkindly. Rose assumed a dignified expression of distain, and Albus rolled his eyes at Malfoy's behavior.

Scorpius was not all that surprised to hear his father's reaction. It was what he would have done, especially if he'd been caught on his own. He wondered if he would have been surprised by this information a few days ago, though. Had he assumed, like the others seemed to, that his parents were fearless and, if not flawless, at least worth idolizing? He couldn't remember and it depressed him slightly, to not even know how his opinions had changed in only a few short days, to not even know if he'd been disillusioned or if he'd never had a hero to begin with. Perhaps he had avoided thinking about his father's past just as much as his parents did.

"**I wasn't too happy myself," said George. "They're horrible things, those dementors. . . ."**

"No kidding," Hugo mumbled, hugging himself.

"**Sort of freeze your insides, don't they?" said Fred.**

"**You didn't pass out, though, did you?" said Harry in a low voice.**

They all exchanged looks, reminded of their anxiety over this issue.

"They also haven't seen the things Harry has," Teddy sighed, wishing someone would at least explain this part to Harry so he wouldn't have to walk around burning with shame over something he couldn't help.

"You're sure that's what happened?" Albus asked Teddy, biting his lip. "Dad passed out from the memories, not because the dementor did something to him?"

Teddy hesitated. He didn't know that for sure. And he didn't know which way was worse. Dementors scared him and he hated to imagine what they might have done to his godfather, but if it was a memory… it scared him to think what sort of memory could be that bad.

"Teddy?" Albus was tugging at his elbow, waiting for an answer. Like Teddy had all the answers.

"I dunno," he admitted. He was saying that a lot lately.

Albus glanced at his friends and even though Teddy knew Albus wouldn't expect him to know everything, he still felt like he had failed somehow with his continual lack of comforting information these days.

"**Forget it, Harry," said George bracingly. "Dad had to go out to Azkaban one time, remember, Fred? And he said it was the worst place he'd ever been, he came back all weak and shaking. . . . **

"He did?" Hugo asked with wide eyes. He didn't really believe that anything could shake his grandfather.

"Anyone would," James said quietly. "If just one was bad, can you imagine a place full of hundreds of them all the time?"

Hugo shook his head violently.

"What if someone got stuck in the prison they're all in now?" Lily squeaked suddenly. "What if they found it by accident or some evil person put them in there? Would anybody know? What would happen to them?"

Half the group shuddered at the thought of that.

"Let's hope the Department of Mysteries does their job," Teddy said fervently. It would be straight out of his worst nightmares. Everyone's worst nightmares. Although Teddy didn't say it out loud, he was sure no soul would last long in that prison.

**They suck the happiness out of a place, dementors. Most of the prisoners go mad in there."**

_So how had Sirius survived? _James wondered. Had his father's godfather really been slightly mad, even if Harry wasn't willing to see it or immortalize that part of him? It felt like this book had shaken the very foundations of his world, making him question everything he'd been told.

"**Anyway, we'll see how happy Malfoy looks after our first Quidditch match," said Fred. "Gryffindor versus Slytherin, first game of the season, remember?"**

This was an effective way to life all their spirits.

"Dad's team won the cup a bunch of times when he was in school," James remembered. "They've had rotten luck the past couple years, you know with attacks and Dad being unconscious and all. That means they've got to win the whole thing soon!"

Fred continued reading with a little more gusto.

**The only time Harry and Malfoy had faced each other in a Quidditch match, Malfoy had definitely come off worse. **

"Definitely," James smirked as Scorpius blushed a little at his father's embarrassing performance in that match.

**Feeling slightly more cheerful, Harry helped himself to sausages and fried tomatoes.**

**Hermione was examining her new schedule.**

"**Ooh, good, we're starting some new subjects today," she said happily.**

Rose looked almost as happy as Hermione must have, and even though James scoffed, he really was curious to see what was in store for him come September.

"**Hermione," said Ron, frowning as he looked over her shoulder, "they've messed up your schedule. Look — they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough **_**time.**_**"**

Rose frowned, thinking back to her mother's discussion with McGonagall the night before.

"**I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."**

"**But look," said Ron, laughing, "see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And" — Ron leaned closer to the schedule, disbelieving — "**_**look **_**— underneath that, Arithmancy, **_**nine o'clock. **_**I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's **_**that **_**good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"**

"Clone herself?" Albus suggested, baffled.

Fred and James exchanged raised eyebrows, while Rose looked pensively at the book with so much intensity she might have been trying to burn a hole through it to find the answer.

Teddy shook his head. Leave it to Hermione to find a way to take every subject. A fragment of conversation he had once had with her about magical time travel leapt suddenly in his memory, but Hermione had told him that all the tools for that had been destroyed quite a few years earlier. There went that theory.

The mystery itched at the back of his mind, but he was sure it would be solved soon enough. Hermione spent nearly every waking minute with Harry and Ron. How could she keep her mysterious schedule… well, mysterious?

"**Don't be silly," said Hermione shortly. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once."**

"**Well, then —"**

"**Pass the marmalade," said Hermione.**

"End of discussion," Lily grinned.

"Unless she's using some kind of condimential code to answer," Fred said mysteriously. "The solution's always in the marmalade…"

"Just keep reading."

"**But —"**

"**Oh, Ron, what's it to you if my schedule's a bit full?" Hermione snapped. "I told you, I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."**

"Three classes at once is more than a bit full," James pointed out indignantly.

**Just then, Hagrid entered the Great Hall. He was wearing his long moleskin overcoat and was absentmindedly swinging a dead polecat from one enormous hand.**

"Oh," Lily sighed softly upon hearing about the dead polecat.

Teddy offered her a comforting clap on the back.

"**All righ'?" he said eagerly, pausing on the way to the staff table. "Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five gettin' everythin' ready. . . . Hope it's okay. . . . Me, a teacher . . . hones'ly. . . ."**

Rose smiled absentmindedly, still puzzling over her mother's schedule.

"That's lucky that they're in his first class," said Albus. "They'll be able to make sure it goes good for him."

**He grinned broadly at them and headed off to the staff table, still swinging the polecat.**

Lily grimaced, wishing they would stop mentioning the poor polecat.

"**Wonder what he's been getting ready?" said Ron, a note of anxiety in his voice.**

"Something wicked, no doubt," James said eagerly. It was much easier to hope for exciting, dangerous creatures when he wasn't the one who'd be facing them. At least not yet.

**The hall was starting to empty as people headed off toward their first lesson. Ron checked his course schedule.**

"**We'd better go, look, Divination's at the top of North Tower. It'll take us ten minutes to get there. . . ."**

**They finished their breakfasts hastily, said good-bye to Fred and George, and walked back through the hall. As they passed the Slytherin table, Malfoy did yet another impression of a fainting fit. The shouts of laughter followed Harry into the entrance hall.**

"That's going to get old fast," James growled.

**The journey through the castle to North Tower was a long one. Two years at Hogwarts hadn't taught them everything about the castle, and they had never been inside North Tower before.**

Teddy hid a small, rueful smile as he remembered his one and only journey up to North Tower. He'd been delivering some herbs to the Divination teacher from Nevile and he and Rob had gotten woefully lost. He still had no idea how they'd managed to end up on the southeast corner of the fourth floor when they'd climbed _so many _staircases. It was after that escapade (in which Rob had taught him several creative new ways to swear when they'd stumbled across a mad suit of armor, and then later gotten stuck on the vanishing staircase) that Teddy started carrying the Marauders' Map everywhere.

"**There's — got — to — be — a — shortcut," Ron panted as they climbed their seventh long staircase and emerged on an unfamiliar landing, where there was nothing but a large painting of a bare stretch of grass hanging on the stone wall.**

"**I think it's this way," said Hermione, peering down the empty passage to the right.**

"**Can't be," said Ron. "That's south, look, you can see a bit of the lake out of the window . . ."**

"Wish we'd known that," Teddy mumbled under his breath. Rob couldn't pay attention to landmarks like that to save his life and Teddy had been too distracted by the leaping tea leaves he was supposed to be keeping in their basket to think about that.

**Harry was watching the painting. A fat, dapple-gray pony had just ambled onto the grass and was grazing nonchalantly. Harry was used to the subjects of Hogwarts paintings moving around and leaving their frames to visit one another, but he always enjoyed watching it. **

"It is pretty cool," Albus agreed, smiling slightly. "It's kind of like watching a thousand never-ending stories."

He had, admittedly, been late a few times last year because he'd gotten caught up watching the paintings. The landscape on the third floor always had an interesting scene going on. It was like the vacation local for the entire painted world of Hogwarts. And he could hardly walk away from the poker-playing warlocks once they got going into one of their arguments.

**A moment later, a short, squat knight in a suit of armor clanked into the picture after his pony. By the look of the grass stains on his metal knees, he had just fallen off.**

"**Aha!" he yelled, seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "What villains are these, that trespass upon my private lands! Come to scorn at my fall, perchance? Draw, you knaves, you dogs!"**

"I like him," James decided, a slow grin spreading across his face.

**They watched in astonishment as the little knight tugged his sword out of its scabbard and began brandishing it violently, hopping up and down in rage. But the sword was too long for him; a particularly wild swing made him overbalance, and he landed facedown in the grass.**

Hugo snorted, biting his lip to stop from laughing.

"**Are you all right?" said Harry, moving closer to the picture.**

The corners of Teddy's mouth quirked. Harry would be concerned over this little Knight. It was just the way he was, and this impulse was probably closely related to why he had played such a role in Teddy's own life.

"**Get back, you scurvy braggart! Back, you rogue!"**

"He was only worried about you," Lily said snippily.

**The knight seized his sword again and used it to push himself back up, but the blade sank deeply into the grass and, though he pulled with all his might, he couldn't get it out again. Finally, he had to flop back down onto the grass and push up his visor to mop his sweating face.**

"**Listen," said Harry, taking advantage of the knight's exhaustion, "we're looking for the North Tower. You don't know the way, do you?"**

"**A quest!" The knight's rage seemed to vanish instantly. He clanked to his feet and shouted, "Come follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!"**

James was smothering snickers at the theatrical way Fred was reading this, completely straight-faced.

Teddy was wishing he had met this knight when he'd been looking for North Tower.

**He gave the sword another fruitless tug, tried and failed to mount the fat pony, gave up, and cried, "On foot then, good sirs and gentle lady! On! On!"**

"He's certainly persevering," Rose noted, eyes twinkling with amusement.

**And he ran, clanking loudly, into the left side of the frame and out of sight.**

**They hurried after him along the corridor, following the sound of his armor. Every now and then they spotted him running through a picture ahead. **

"**Be of stout heart, the worst is yet to come!" yelled the knight, and they saw him reappear in front of an alarmed group of women in crinolines, whose picture hung on the wall of a narrow spiral staircase.**

"What exactly does he mean by the worst?" Scorpius wondered.

"Are you not aware of the perils of spiral staircases?" Fred demanded, looking up at Scorpius.

"Er…"

Fred shook his head and returned to reading.

**Puffing loudly, Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the tightly spiraling steps, getting dizzier and dizzier, until at last they heard the murmur of voices above them and knew they had reached the classroom.**

"**Farewell!" cried the knight, popping his head into a painting of some sinister-looking monks. "Farewell, my comrades-in-arms! If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!"**

"And that's why it pays to be friendly with the portraits," Albus grinned, looking pointedly at both James and Scoprius, who had each given him flack for spending a Sunday afternoon helping a little painted witch search paintings for her dropped cloak.

"Next time I'm in need of a forgetful old paint blob, I'll think about that," James drawled.  
>"She's not a paint blob," Albus said indignantly. "And I thought you liked the mad knight."<p>

"I do, but it doesn't mean I'd help him learn how to ride his pony."

"But she was so upset! I couldn't just leave her."

"Huh, imagine the subject of the 'Wallowing Witch' portrait looking upset. And it's not like she had unlimited time to search for her missing cloak."

"Shut up," Albus grumbled.

"You're too nice, Al," Lily chided.

"He just takes chivalry too far," Rose said, smiling.

"Not the worst flaw a person could have," Teddy said bracingly.

Albus just waved for Fred to keep reading.

"**Yeah, we'll call you," muttered Ron as the knight disappeared, "if we ever need someone mental."**

**They climbed the last few steps and emerged onto a tiny landing, where most of the class was already assembled. There were no doors off this landing, but Ron nudged Harry and pointed at the ceiling, where there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on it.**

" '**Sibyll Trelawney, Divination teacher,' " Harry read. "How're we supposed to get up there?"**

**As though in answer to his question, the trapdoor suddenly opened, and a silvery ladder descended right at Harry's feet. Everyone got quiet.**

"Either that's a sign or someone spent a lot of time listening for that question to be asked," James stage-whispered.

"**After you," said Ron, grinning, so Harry climbed the ladder first.**

**He emerged into the strangest-looking classroom he had ever seen. In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all, more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea shop. At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves. It was stiflingly warm, and the fire that was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large copper kettle. The shelves running around the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.**

Fred was nearly out of breath by the end of this description. He and James looked at each other dubiously. What exactly had they gotten themselves into? Maybe this was one of those times when they _should _have headed the warnings sent their way.

Rose was looking skeptical already, but Teddy was keenly interested in what sort of classes Sibyll Trelawney held in this closeted tower room, so out-of-place from the broad, lofty stone corridors and rooms in the rest of the school.

**Ron appeared at Harry's shoulder as the class assembled around them, all talking in whispers.**

"**Where is she?" Ron said.**

**A voice came suddenly out of the shadows, a soft, misty sort of voice.**

"**Welcome," it said. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last."**

Rose rolled her eyes, and Albus and Scorpius glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, but Fred seemed more intrigued as he kept reading.

**Harry's immediate impression was of a large, glittering insect. **

Teddy snorted. He had met Professor Trelawney, and he could see where Harry was coming from, but his godfather's rather blunt descriptions never failed to amuse him. He wondered if he himself got a description in these books somewhere.

**Professor Trelawney moved into the firelight, and they saw that she was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.**

"**Sit, my children, sit," she said, and they all climbed awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto poufs. **

Fred was definitely grinning now. Anything out-of-the-ordinary Fred loved. He could care less about Divination and being a seer, but the simple ludicrousness of this class was right up his alley.

James, however, was not quite entirely sold yet. Fred reveled in finding the most insane contrasts to normalcy and imitating them, so he would love everything about Sibyll Trelawney and her classroom, but it seemed rather strange to him.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat themselves around the same round table.**

"**Welcome to Divination," said Professor Trelawney, who had seated herself in a winged armchair in front of the fire. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."**

Lily decided that Fred had picked the perfect chapter to read. She was trying hard not to erupt into giggles at the fluttery, misty, dramatic voice he was using with Professor Trelawney's words. James was snickering beside him, but Fred didn't crack a smile as he slipped into character.

**Nobody said anything to this extraordinary pronouncement. Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued,**

Fred mimed delicately rearranging his own invisible shawls, taking care to get them as smooth and in-order as he could before going on.

"**So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. **

"You mean the most shoddy and ridiculous," Rose muttered.

"Excuse me, my child," Fred said in the same misty voice, though making it sharper. "But perhaps you find it shoddy because you lack…the gift."

Rose opened her mouth to say something but Fred forestalled her.

"I know what you're about to say," he said, holding up a hand and closing his eyes. "And I know I don't want to hear it."

"But –"

"No, no. Best to keep your mouth closed when you don't know what's coming next."

James was shaking with silent laughter. Okay, just seeing Fred in this class was more than worth whatever weirdness they had to do in it.

**I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can take you only so far in this field. . . ."**

Here, Fred looked pointedly at Rose, pretending to finger one of his imaginary beaded necklaces.

Rose gave up and grinned along with the others.

**At these words, both Harry and Ron glanced, grinning, at Hermione, who looked startled at the news that books wouldn't be much help in this subject.**

There were some more smirks at this.

"**Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future," Professor Trelawney went on, her enormous, gleaming eyes moving from face to nervous face. **

Fred lowered the book to peer at each of them intently.

"Did she just denounce virtually every branch of magic as a few stage tricks?" Albus murmured.

Rose sniffed in response.

"**It is a Gift granted to few. You, boy," **

They jumped as Fred changed his dreamy tone to one of sharp accusation, flinging out an arm to point at Hugo.

**she said suddenly to Neville, who almost toppled off his pouf. "Is your grandmother well?"**

"I-I think so," Hugo stammered when Fred gazed at him as though expecting an answer.

"Now, he, he has the gift," Fred said approvingly, dropping his hand and glancing at Rose. "Must have skipped over your logical brain. New it was wasting its time there."

"**I think so," said Neville tremulously.**

"**I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear," said Professor Trelawney, the firelight glinting on her long emerald earrings. Neville gulped. Professor Trelawney continued placidly. **

Fred kept up his flawless act, but there was a light of amusement dancing in his dark eyes all the same.

"**We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," **

Fred looked up at the book, this time directly at Lily as he spoke the next lines.

**she shot suddenly at Parvati Patil, "beware a red-haired man."**

"So all of my uncles," Lily smirked.

"I just deliver the warnings my inner eye sees," Fred said mysteriously, flipping the page with unnecessary flourish. "I do not pretend to interpret them beyond that."

**Parvati gave a startled look at Ron, who was right behind her, and edged her chair away from him.**

"You can tell she's very creative," Teddy murmured, grinning a little. It might have been entertaining simply to watch the theatrics of this class, even if it was the biggest load of rubbish he'd ever seen spun into spangled strands of mystery.

"**In the second term," Professor Trelawney went on, "we shall progress to the crystal ball — if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever."**

Fred allowed this last sentence to hover in the air with an ominous glamour, gazing vaguely off into the distance as if he himself had really seen such an omen.

**A very tense silence followed this pronouncement, but Professor Trelawney seemed unaware of it.**

"**I wonder, dear," she said to Lavender Brown, who was nearest and shrank back in her chair, **

"Can't blame her, with all the cheerful predictions being doled out," Rose muttered, rolling her eyes.

Fred had pinned her with his dramatic gaze this time.

"**if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?"**

Lily couldn't stop the giggle this time as Fred transitioned his voice from dramatic tones to a sweet, innocent wisp.

**Lavender, looking relieved, stood up, took an enormous teapot from the shelf, and put it down on the table in front of Professor Trelawney.**

"**Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading — it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October."**

"Ooo, just when she thought she was safe," James said in a hushed voice after Fred's casual statement of doom.

**Lavender trembled.**

"**Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of **_**Unfogging the Future. **_**I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear" **

Teddy was the subject of this prediction and there was the barest trace of a smirk playing on Fred's otherwise impassive face.

— **she caught Neville by the arm as he made to stand up — "after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."**

"Very funny," Teddy said as the rest sniggered. "I'm not _that _clumsy."

He leaned back on his palms as he said this and his hand slipped on a due-slick leaf and he slipped backwards.

"Only you could slip while sitting down," James laughed, and Teddy grinned ruefully.

**Sure enough, Neville had no sooner reached the shelf of teacups when there was a tinkle of breaking china. **

"That's not fair," Rose burst out, unable to hold her skepticism in any longer. "If she hadn't told him he was going to break a delicate little tea cup, he probably wouldn't have! And it's easy to throw out all those vague, dark-cloud comments. If Pavarti meets a red-haired man at any point in her life, or if anything happens or had happened to Neville's grandmother, those 'predictions' can be called true. She could say those things to anybody and they'd probably all come true eventually! It's utterly absurd that people put any stock whatsoever in fortune telling. Muggles scam people the exact same way! There's no magic involved. It's just a load of spooky comments based on a few observations!"

Rose ended with a disgusted look on her face, breathing rather hard.

"Don't hold back, Rosie, tell us how you really feel," James prompted, smirking.

"Well it's true!" Rose blustered.

"I beg to differ," Fred cut in in his Professor-Trelawney voice. "I read it quite plainly in your pumpkin juice last night that you would not find a career in Divination and it turned out to be quite right, didn't it?"

With a lofty, superior sort of nod, Fred returned to the book.

**Professor Trelawney swept over to him holding a dustpan and brush and said, "One of the blue ones, then, dear, if you wouldn't mind . . . thank you. . . ."**

**When Harry and Ron had had their teacups filled, they went back to their table and tried to drink the scalding tea quickly. They swilled the dregs around as Professor Trelawney had instructed, then drained the cups and swapped over.**

"Who's swapping with Mum?" Hugo asked indignantly.

"**Right," said Ron as they both opened their books at pages five and six. "What can you see in mine?"**

"**A load of soggy brown stuff," said Harry. **

"He's obviously been gifted with Sight," Teddy snickered.

**The heavily perfumed smoke in the room was making him feel sleepy and stupid.**

"**Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!" Professor Trelawney cried through the gloom.**

**Harry tried to pull himself together.**

"**Right, you've got a crooked sort of cross . . ." He consulted **_**Unfogging the Future. **_**"That means you're going to have 'trials and suffering' — sorry about that — but there's a thing that could be the sun . . . hang on . . . that means 'great happiness' . . . so you're going to suffer but be very happy. . . ."**

"Well, that's sort of true," Hugo mumbled as the rest smothered laughter. "Everybody suffered during the war, didn't they? But Dad's happy now…"

"See what I mean? Anything can be interpreted as true after enough time," Rose muttered to herself.

"**You need your Inner Eye tested, if you ask me," said Ron, and they both had to stifle their laughs as Professor Trelawney gazed in their direction.**

"**My turn . . ." Ron peered into Harry's teacup, his forehead wrinkled with effort. "There's a blob a bit like a bowler hat," he said. "Maybe you're going to work for the Ministry of Magic. . . ."**

"Check," said James.

**He turned the teacup the other way up.**

"**But this way it looks more like an acorn. . . . What's that?" He scanned his copy of **_**Unfogging the Future. **_**" 'A windfall, unexpected gold.' Excellent, you can lend me some **

"Check there, too," said James. "Dad nearly doubled his fortune when Sirius died, and that was pretty unexpected…."

Teddy suddenly realized that they would be reading about Sirius's death, too, in later books. From Harry's perspective. His insides contracted just thinking about it. This was not going to be easy.

**. . . and there's a thing here," he turned the cup again, "that looks like an animal . . . yeah, if that was its head . . . it looks like a hippo . . . no, a sheep . . ."**

"Does that mean Dad's destined to be a shepherd?" Lily wondered.

Teddy couldn't help but snicker at the thought of Harry trying to coral sheep.

**Professor Trelawney whirled around as Harry let out a snort of laughter.**

"**Let me see that, my dear," she said reprovingly to Ron, sweeping over and snatching Harry's cup from him. Everyone went quiet to watch.**

**Professor Trelawney was staring into the teacup, rotating it counterclockwise.**

"**The falcon . . . my dear, you have a deadly enemy."**

"No way!" James exclaimed, hands flying to his mouth.

Rose rolled her eyes yet again. "Breaking news there," she muttered.

"**But everyone knows **_**that,**_**" said Hermione in a loud whisper.**

**Professor Trelawney stared at her.**

"**Well, they do," said Hermione. "Everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who."**

"Did Hermione just talk back to a teacher?" James asked, holding up his hands.

"Of course, didn't you see it coming?" Fred asked, eyes wide.

James was beginning to think his cousin was taking this impersonation thing a little too seriously.

**Harry and Ron stared at her with a mixture of amazement and admiration. They had never heard Hermione speak to a teacher like that before. Professor Trelawney chose not to reply. She lowered her huge eyes to Harry's cup again and continued to turn it.**

"**The club . . . an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup. . . ."**

For the first time since they'd begun to read about Professor Trelawney, Lily looked nervous. For all Rose said about Divination being nonsense, an attack didn't seem that farfetched in her father's life.

"**I thought that was a bowler hat," said Ron sheepishly.**

"**The skull . . . danger in your path, my dear. . . ."**

"Well, that's no surprise," Teddy murmured. It seemed Harry couldn't get away from danger. Ever. Even now, his job was to seek it out.

**Everyone was staring, transfixed, at Professor Trelawney, who gave the cup a final turn, **

Rather than reading the next few words, Fred opted to act them out. He sucked in a huge, shuddering gasp, let the silence hang for a moment, and then let loose a piercing, high-pitched scream.

Everybody jumped away from him.

"Fred!" Rose complained, rubbing her ears.

"What?" Fred asked blankly.

"What happened?" Hugo demanded impatiently. He, like Lily, was beginning to get anxious about this cup business. So far, everything Trelawney had said had happened or seemed probable… maybe there _was _something to her predictions. No matter what his sister said.

**There was another tinkle of breaking china; Neville had smashed his second cup. Professor Trelawney sank into a vacant armchair, her glittering hand at her heart and her eyes closed.**

"**My dear boy . . . my poor, dear boy . . . no . . . it is kinder not to say . . . no . . . don't ask me. . . ."**

"What is it?" Hugo, Lily, Albus, and James all asked immediately.

"**What is it, Professor?" said Dean Thomas at once. Everyone had got to their feet, and slowly they crowded around Harry and Ron's table, pressing close to Professor Trelawney's chair to get a good look at Harry's cup.**

"**My dear," Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened dramatically, "you have the Grim."**

Fred fixed his stare on Albus this time, and even though he knew his cousin was merely reveling in the dramatics, Albus couldn't stop a shiver from running up his spine.

"**The what?" said Harry.**

Rose smirked. That would take a little air out of Trelawney's sails. If her victim didn't even understand the dire prediction she had just made about him….

**He could tell that he wasn't the only one who didn't understand; Dean Thomas shrugged at him and Lavender Brown looked puzzled, but nearly everybody else clapped their hands to their mouths in horror.**

Hugo and Lily exchanged an uneasy look.

Rose saw and exasperation swept through her like a tide.

"Oh, you two can't possibly believe this," she said incredulously. "Harry's _fine_! Shouldn't that blow her entire production?"

Her brother and cousin merely looked back at her, unconvinced.

"All of that _could _happen, though," Hugo pointed out.

"_I _could have told you that before we even started this book!" Rose burst out in frustration.

That didn't seem to calm them down though.

"**The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" cried Professor Trelawney, who looked shocked that Harry hadn't understood. "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen — the worst omen — of **_**death**_**!"**

Fred intoned the last word with such heavy drama, they could practically see it dripping off his tongue.

"Wait a moment," Scorpius said suddenly. "You said Sirius was an animagi," he said, turning to Teddy. "A big black dog… is that what she's seeing?"

Teddy shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe she's capitalizing on Harry's track record to make a dramatic prediction that isn't really all that far-fetched at all. Who knows."

"You know it doesn't help when you guys keep saying Trelawney's right whether she can see the future or not," Lily reminded them, biting her thumb nail anxiously.

"You're Dad's fine, Lil," Teddy tried to reassure her calmly.

Lily turned large, earnest brown eyes on him. "He just passed out because of a dementor. Do you know why that happened?"

Teddy wavered, seeing her point.

"I just don't want to hear about my Mum and Dad being hurt again," Lily said fiercely, blinking furiously.

"I don't think that's avoidable if you keep listening to the story," Teddy told her sadly.

Lily crossed her arms and looked down and after exchanging a look with James, Fred kept reading.

**Harry's stomach lurched. That dog on the cover of **_**Death Omens **_**in Flourish and Blotts — the dog in the shadows of Magnolia**__**Crescent . . . **

"Was just Sirius," Rose murmured, but this time it was less to discredit Divination and more an attempt to assuage the fear evident not only in Lily's eyes, but in most of the group's.

**Lavender Brown clapped her hands to her mouth**__**too. Everyone was looking at Harry, everyone except Hermione,**__**who had gotten up and moved around to the back of Professor**__**Trelawney's chair.**

"_**I **_**don't think it looks like a Grim," she said flatly.**

"Of course she doesn't," James muttered with the flicker of a smile.

**Professor Trelawney surveyed Hermione with mounting dislike.**

"Now _that _I could have predicted," Albus mumbled.

"**You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."**

Albus, Rose, and James all snorted at this proclamation.

**Seamus Finnigan was tilting his head from side to side.**

"**It looks like a Grim if you do this," he said, with his eyes almost shut, "but it looks more like a donkey from here," he said, leaning to the left.**

"Obviously there's no way she misinterpreted that, then," Teddy said lightly, winking at Rose.

"**When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" said Harry, taking even himself by surprise. **

Teddy laughed out loud and even Lily couldn't help but crack a smile. If her father wasn't worried…. Well, it was _his _cup after all…

It amazed Albus how lightly his dad could take this kind of prediction, even if it was debatable how reliable the source was. If he'd found out…. Well, suffice it to say, Albus was a coward. He would get jumpy, Rose would scoff herself into irritation, and James would lose no time exploiting this new angle. It was a good thing it wasn't his tea leaves, then.

**Now nobody seemed to want to look at him.**

"**I think we will leave the lesson here for today," said Professor Trelawney in her mistiest voice. "Yes . . . please pack away your things. . . ."**

**Silently the class took their teacups back to Professor Trelawney, packed away their books, and closed their bags. Even Ron was avoiding Harry's eyes.**

Rose looked disappointed that her father was succumbing to this batty old woman's show.

"**Until we meet again," said Professor Trelawney faintly, "fair fortune be yours. Oh, and dear" — she pointed at Neville — "you'll be late next time, so mind you work extra-hard to catch up."**

Fred made the most of his last dramatic line, sweeping his gaze at Scorpius this time and putting every ounce of mystery into his voice as he could. He was disappointed that Trelawney was out of the chapter so soon…

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione descended Professor Trelawney's ladder and the winding stair in silence, then set off for Professor Mc- Gonagall's Transfiguration lesson. **

"Could you possibly juxtapose two more contrasting classes?" Rose asked, amused at the irony. It would be a mental shock to go from the hazy, airy-fairy tower room devoted to artsy guesswork to the bright, rigid strictness of Professor McGonagall's classroom and the no-nonsense complex laws of Transfiguration. It was almost cruel to put those classes back-to-back.

**It took them so long to find her classroom that, early as they had left Divination, they were only just in time.**

**Harry chose a seat right at the back of the room, feeling as though he were sitting in a very bright spotlight; the rest of the class kept shooting furtive glances at him, as though he were about to drop dead at any moment. **

James grimaced. That would be incredibly annoying, and it certainly wasn't helping the gossip over Harry's 'fainting'.

**He hardly heard what Professor McGonagall was telling them about Animagi (wizards who could transform at will into animals), and wasn't even watching when she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes.**

"Wicked," Fred and James both said in unison.

"It is," Teddy grinned. That had been one of the most interesting Transfiguration classes he had ever had. McGonagall, though she didn't teach it anymore, still came in to demonstrate. It was a shame Harry was too distracted by his supposed impending death sentence to pay attention.

But even as he thought it, Teddy felt a queasy sort of stir. He knew Harry wasn't going to die, but what would it be like to have your mortality exploited like that for all to gasp and gawk at? What would it be like to be told – and to know it was more than possible – that the end of your life might be looming nearer. He gave his head a sharp shake to remind himself what rubbish Divination was anyway. He was glad he'd never taken it.

"**Really, what has got into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself with a faint **_**pop, **_**and staring around at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."**

"Of course it matters," Teddy smirked. "She loves showing off that talent, no matter how unmoved she looks when everyone cheers."

**Everybody's heads turned toward Harry again, but nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand.**

"**Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and —"**

"**Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"**

"See? It was just a show," Rose said, though more soothingly than smugly as she glanced at Lily and her brother.

**Everyone stared at her.**

"**Me," said Harry, finally.**

"**I see," said Professor McGonagall, fixing Harry with her beady eyes. "Then you should know, Potter, that Sibyll Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. **

"And how could she resist marking The-Boy-Who-Lived for death?" Teddy asked with a dark chuckle.

"You know, I feel kind of bad for the rest of the kids Trelawney tells that to," Albus said. "Dad – I mean, at least Dad's used to facing lethal situations" – his voice wavered a little as he said it because it didn't seem fair that at thirteen-year-old should be used to that – "but for everyone else… it could make them seriously paranoid, freak them out."

"That's why McGonagall's classis right after Trelawney's," James said wisely. "So she can do damage control."

Fred returned to the book, and couldn't help but smirk a the next line.

**If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues —"**

**Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her nostrils had gone white. She went on, more calmly, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney —"**

**She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."**

Rose beamed. Oh, how she wished she could have McGonagall as a teacher. She was exactly the sort of person Rose wished she could grow up to be.

Fred and James were both cracking up, and even Lily and Hugo were giggling.  
>Teddy grinned. McGonagall was fantastic.<p>

**Hermione laughed. Harry felt a bit better. It was harder to feel scared of a lump of tea leaves away from the dim red light and befuddling perfume of Professor Trelawney's classroom. Not everyone was convinced, however. Ron still looked worried, **

"Dad," Rose sighed.

"Well, I suppose you can't blame him so much," Teddy said reasonably and almost against his better judgment after Lily's outburst earlier. "He's seen exactly what sort of things go on around Harry, and he's not blind to anything outside the realm of solid fact. He's got a right to be worried."

Rose looked uncertain at this side of things. She supposed Teddy was right and she was simply too much like her mother in this respect, but honestly…. Maybe it was also simply easier to dismiss the entire practice as ridiculous than to think there was a chance those dark predictions could come true.

**and Lavender whispered, "But what about Neville's cup?"**

**When the Transfiguration class had finished, they joined the crowd thundering toward the Great Hall for lunch.**

"**Ron, cheer up," said Hermione, pushing a dish of stew toward him. "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."**

**Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his fork but didn't start.**

"He really must be upset, then," Rose quipped, but with a newly softened note in her voice.

"**Harry," he said, in a low, serious voice, "you **_**haven't **_**seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"**

"**Yeah, I have," said Harry. "I saw one the night I left the Dursleys'."**

"That'll help calm him down," Albus muttered under his breath.

**Ron let his fork fall with a clatter.**

"**Probably a stray," said Hermione calmly.**

**Ron looked at Hermione as though she had gone mad.**

"**Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's — that's bad," he said. "My — my uncle Bilius saw one and — and he died twenty-four hours later!"**

That made Fred pause and look up. The entire group had fallen silent.

"Remind me who Bilius is again?" James said in the quiet.

"Granddad's oldest brother," Rose supplied. "He was… well, a little eccentric," she hastened to add.

"No wonder Ron was so freaked out," Albus said, shivering slightly. "It's not just some superstition for him…."

"It doesn't mean anything," Rose insisted.

"Maybe not," Albus shrugged. "But it means something to your dad. That's all I mean."

"**Coincidence," said Hermione airily, pouring herself some pumpkin juice.**

"That's a bit callous," Teddy said quietly. He was fairly certain now that Hermione was clinging so hard to the line of logic because she did not want to accept the alternative, that her best friend was really close to death. And in the given climate, it was not such a difficult leap to make.

But Ron was worried too, and Teddy knew how Hermione's unconcerned air would affect him.

"**You don't know what you're talking about!" said Ron, starting to get angry. "Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!"**

"**There you are, then," said Hermione in a superior tone. **

James gritted his teeth. He knew that superior tone all too well from Rose.

Albus found it slightly amusing how easily he could imagine Rose and James having this exact argument. His mother _was _right. James was just like Ron in a lot of ways. And there was no doubt that Rose was her mother's daughter.

"**They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!"**

Even though it was Fred's voice reading, and there were no descriptions of Hermione's tone, James could hear it perfectly in his head. And that was how he realized Hermione wasn't being argumentative for the sake of being right. She was scared, just like Ron was. Scared of what her friend might be facing.

And for the first time, he thought that maybe sometimes when Rose got that way, it wasn't just because she was annoying, it might be because she was scared, too.

**Ron mouthed wordlessly at Hermione, who opened her bag, took out her new Arithmancy book, and propped it open against the juice jug.**

"**I think Divination seems very woolly," she said, searching for her page. "A lot of guesswork, if you ask me."**

"**There was nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!" said Ron hotly.**

"**You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep," said Hermione coolly.**

"**Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being bad at something for a change!"**

"Ooo," Fred winced.

"Low blow," James added.

Rose was struck by how different her parents' bickering was when they were young from what it was like now. It was amusing to see that it had always been like that between them, but there was a much more obvious venom in the remarks they swung back and forth. They were aiming their blows to hurt, not merely swatting back and forth. Why? Why were they always trying to get one in under the armor?

**He had touched a nerve. Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that bits of meat and carrot flew everywhere.**

"**If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy class!"**

"When did she go to Arithmancy?" James asked, but Fred kept reading, caught up in the flow of the argument.

**She snatched up her bag and stalked away.**

**Ron frowned after her.**

"**What's she talking about?" he said to Harry. "She hasn't been to an Arithmancy class yet."**

"Point and case," James said pointedly, but nobody had any suggestions about Hermione's bizarre schedule.

**Harry was pleased to get out of the castle after lunch. Yesterday's rain had cleared; the sky was a clear, pale gray, and the grass was springy and damp underfoot as they set off for their first ever Care of Magical Creatures class.**

Fred and James looked particularly excited about this, and Rose was once more captivated by hearing about a new class. She had firmly decided against taking Divination, whatever kind of class load her mother had signed up for.

**Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to each other. **

"So a typical few hours in the life of the middle man," Fred noted, sympathizing with his uncle.

**Harry walked beside them in silence as they went down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was only when he spotted three only-too-familiar backs ahead of them that he realized they must be having these lessons with the Slytherins. **

Scorpius groaned internally. All he needed was his dad to have more face-time. Especially in front of Hagrid, whom he counted as a friend and whom his father obviously had nothing but distain for. This did not bode well.

**Malfoy was talking animatedly to Crabbe and Goyle, who were chortling. Harry was quite sure he knew what they were talking about. **

**Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start.**

"**C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"**

**For one nasty moment, Harry thought that Hagrid was going to lead them into the forest; Harry had had enough unpleasant experiences in there to last him a lifetime. However, Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, **

Fred and James both looked crestfallen. They would love nothing more than a few more exciting forays into the dark and dangerous trees that held such an allure for them. If only the founders had not called it the _Forbidden _Forest.

**and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. There was nothing in there.**

Rose, Albus, and Scorpius exchanged a look.

James's imagination was occupied with wild, invisible beasts and giant chameleons.

"**Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called. "That's it — make sure yeh can see — now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books —"**

"**How?" said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.**

"I hate to say it," Fred said reluctantly, "But he makes a good point."

"**Eh?" said Hagrid.**

"**How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated. He took out his copy of **_**The Monster Book of Monsters, **_**which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too; some, like Harry, had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.**

"**Hasn' — hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" said Hagrid, looking crestfallen.**

"Oh, Hagrid, I'm sure they all _tried_," Lily said sympathetically.

**The class all shook their heads.**

"**Yeh've got ter **_**stroke **_**'em," said Hagrid, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. **

"Well, duh!" James exclaimed, smacking his forehead. "Of course! What else would you do to a monster book? That ought to be the first thing any sensible person tried!"

"**Look —"**

**He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the Spellotape that bound it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand.**

"**Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered. "We should have **_**stroked **_**them! Why didn't we guess!"**

James felt rather sickened that he had sounded so much like Malfoy.

"**I — I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.**

"They are!" Lily assured the book. "Er, once you know how to stop them ripping your hands off. I'd buy one."

"**Oh, tremendously funny!" said Malfoy. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"**

"Shut up," Lily scowled. This was Hagrid's first class and she did NOT want it ruined by a little twerp like Malfoy. Hagrid really deserved this post.

"**Shut up, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Hagrid was looking downcast and Harry wanted Hagrid's first lesson to be a success.**

Lily smiled lightly on the outside, but on the inside she beamed. It was always her brothers who got compared or contrasted to their father, while she was usually measured up against her mother. And while Lily couldn't really think of any better praise than to be called 'like her mother', she wanted to be like her father, too, to make him proud.

"**Righ' then," said Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his thread, "so — so yeh've got yer books an' — an' — now yeh need the Magical Creatures. **

James would have said something along the lines of 'that tends to help with a Care of Magical Creatures class', but he kept his mouth shut for fear of sounding like Draco Malfoy again.

**Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on . . ."**

**He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight.**

This made Fred and James hopeful again.

"**God, this place is going to the dogs," said Malfoy loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him —"**

Scorpius sighed heavily while the others began to glower. He couldn't believe what a brat his dad had been. How had his mother ever looked twice at the little git in these books?

"**Shut up, Malfoy," Harry repeated.**

"**Careful, Potter, there's a dementor behind you —"**

"Jerk," Hugo muttered, crossing his arms. It wasn't fair to use something someone was afraid of to pick on them. It was a low blow.

"**Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock.**

**Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Harry had ever seen. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly orange eyes. **

"Hippogriffs!" Rose and James both said, though Rose beamed and James groaned in disappointment. Hippogriffs were powerful creatures, but they were ordinary. Nothing new or special about them. You could find them in any magical zoo and plenty of people bred them on ranches.

Rose, however, thought they were gorgeous. She had gone through a phase when she was small where everything she drew or made ended up as a hippogriff. She had even asked for one for Christmas one year, and had been severely disappointed when all she got was a ceramic model.

**The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. **

This grabbed James's attention back. The only hippogriffs he'd seen at the zoo in London had had filed talons, blunted so that keepers could approach safely and because they didn't need to hunt for their food. His mother had said it was a disgrace the way they were being kept.

**Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.**

"**Gee up, there!" he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.**

"**Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"**

"Absolutely," Rose murmured.

**Harry could sort of see what Hagrid meant. Once you got over the first shock of seeing something that was half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the hippogriffs' gleaming coats, changing smoothly from feather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.**

Rose had absentmindedly begun to etch a hippogriff into the dirt with a stick as she listened.

"**So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer —"**

**No one seemed to want to. **

They must have been quite intimidating, even scary, James thought. He had never associated scary with Hippogriffs. Of course his only experience with them was the fat, sad captives in the zoo and the glittery, golden ones on the mobile in Lily's bedroom.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, approached the fence cautiously.**

Lily beamed. She knew it was a good thing that her father and aunt and uncle were in Hagrid's first class. They would help him out. Hugo looked proud of this fact, too.

"**Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."**

Rose nodded. "Yes, there've been some nasty incidents, I read about them. Hippogriffs can be very dangerous if you get on their bad side."

"Flattery gets you far," Fred said and it was hard to tell if he was being serious or mocking.

**Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening; **

Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and Scorpius felt the beginnings of foreboding settle on him

**they were talking in an undertone and Harry had a nasty feeling they were plotting how best to disrupt the lesson.**

"They better not," Lily said in an impressively menacing voice for a ten-year-old.

"**Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt.**

"**Right — who wants ter go first?"**

"Yeah, doesn't it sound like a ton of fun being around those talons?" Fred paused to grin.

**Most of the class backed farther away in answer. Even Harry, Ron, and Hermione had misgivings. **

"Well, they are rather nerve-racking," Teddy said mildly. He remembered that he had been in fourth year before Hagrid had shown his class hippogriffs. He wasn't so sure if it was wise for hippogriffs to be the very first lesson… not when not paying attention to instructions could be so dangerous.

**The hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings; they didn't seem to like being tethered like this.**

"**No one?" said Hagrid, with a pleading look.**

"**I'll do it," said Harry.**

Lily's approval of this idea was conflicted. She was glad her father was helping Hagrid, but at the same time could not forget the dark predictions made on him only that very morning. _The club… an attack…_

The rest seemed apprehensive, too.

**There was an intake of breath from behind him, and both Lavender and Parvati whispered, "Oooh, no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!"**

**Harry ignored them. **

James felt a rush of pride in his chest. His father was not letting fear of death stop him from living. Nothing should be able to stop someone from really living, otherwise it had already won.

**He climbed over the paddock fence.**

"**Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid. "Right then — let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."**

**He untied one of the chains, pulled the gray hippogriff away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather collar. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath. Malfoy's eyes were narrowed maliciously.**

Teddy tensed expectantly. This was not a good idea. Hagrid had demonstrated with their class. Leave it to Harry to volunteer to face off against razor sharp beaks and talons.

The chapter title suddenly came back to him and his stomach jumped. Something was going to happen, he knew it would.

It would devastate Hagrid if Harry was hurt during his first class….

"**Easy, now, Harry," said Hagrid quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink. . . . Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much. . . ."**

**Harry's eyes immediately began to water, but he didn't shut them. Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Harry with one fierce orange eye.**

The atmosphere had gone very tense as they all waited with bated breath to see how this would turn out.

"**Tha's it," said Hagrid. "Tha's it, Harry . . . now, bow . . ."**

**Harry didn't feel much like exposing the back of his neck to Buckbeak, **

Albus shivered and ran a hand over the back of his own neck, trying not to think of sharp beaks tearing at flesh and bone….

**but he did as he was told. He gave a short bow and then looked up.**

**The hippogriff was still staring haughtily at him. It didn't move.**

"Uh-oh" Teddy breathed.

"Get away, Dad," Albus murmured nervously.

Fred quickly kept reading.

"**Ah," said Hagrid, sounding worried. "Right — back away, now, Harry, easy does it —"**

**But then, to Harry's enormous surprise, the hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow.**

Teddy let out all his breath with a whoosh, dropping his head forward with relief.

"Yes!" James cheered, as Lily and Hugo high fived.

Albus shook his head and sighed a breath of relief and Rose grinned. Even Scorpius seemed impressed.

"**Well done, Harry!" said Hagrid, ecstatic. "Right — yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"**

**Feeling that a better reward would have been to back away, Harry moved slowly toward the hippogriff and reached out toward it. He patted the beak several times and the hippogriff closed its eyes lazily, as though enjoying it.**

Teddy smiled as Lily squealed with delight. He'd been wrong. The chapter title didn't mean that something _bad _would happen with talons. Something _bad _didn't always have to happen.

**The class broke into applause, all except for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were looking deeply disappointed.**

Scorpius grimaced.

"**Righ' then, Harry," said Hagrid. "I reckon he might' let yeh ride him!"**

Teddy's stomach plummeted. What was Hagrid doing? He hadn't let anyone ride a hippogriff in Teddy's class.

The rest of the group looked at least a little excited (Rose was practically bouncing), if slightly nervous, but none of them seemed to have as much trepidation as Teddy did for this flight.

**This was more than Harry had bargained for. He was used to a broomstick; but he wasn't sure a hippogriff would be quite the same.**

"No, not quite," James said, looking both eager and apprehensive.

"**Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint," said Hagrid, "an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that. . . ."**

**Harry put his foot on the top of Buckbeak's wing and hoisted himself onto its back. **

"He," Lily murmured, more to her herself. "_His _back. Not its."

**Buckbeak stood up. Harry wasn't sure where to hold on; everything in front of him was covered with feathers.**

"**Go on, then!" roared Hagrid, slapping the hippogriff 's hindquarters.**

Teddy grimaced. This was _not _a good idea. When had he become such a worry-wart?

Probably around the time he realized how many times Harry had nearly gotten himself killed.

**Without warning, twelve-foot wings flapped open on either side of Harry; he just had time to seize the hippogriff around the neck before he was soaring upward. **

Rose felt her stomach swoop as if she were the one being born upward. Jealousy was stirring in her stomach. She wanted to know what that felt like _so _badly. Just once. She'd be satisfied with just once.

**It was nothing like a broomstick, and Harry knew which one he preferred; the hippogriff 's wings beat uncomfortably on either side of him, catching him under his legs and making him feel he was about to be thrown off; the glossy feathers slipped under his fingers and he didn't dare get a stronger grip; instead of the smooth action of his Nimbus Two Thousand, he now felt himself rocking backward and forward as the hindquarters of the hippogriff rose and fell with its wings.**

This less-than-flattering description did not deter Rose at all. If anything, it only made her want to try it even more. Riding a broom was easy, staying on a hippogriff took a kind of bond between you and the animal, something unique and much more profound than simply swooping through the air on a piece of wood.

**Buckbeak flew him once around the paddock and then headed back to the ground; this was the bit Harry had been dreading; he leaned back as the smooth neck lowered, feeling he was going to slip off over the beak, then felt a heavy thud as the four ill-assorted feet hit the ground. He just managed to hold on and push himself straight again.**

"Awesome," James breathed into the silence Fred let pool after these words. How many people could say they had ridden a hippogriff? He doubted it was a great number. Just one more thing to add to the list of cool things his father had managed to do.

"**Good work, Harry!" roared Hagrid as everyone except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cheered. **

"Even the other Slytherins?" Scoprius asked skeptically.

"That's what it says," Fred told him.

Scorpius sincerely hoped the rest of his house had managed to be glad their classmate had survived that flight.

"**Okay, who else wants a go?"**

**Emboldened by Harry's success, the rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid untied the hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were bowing nervously, all over the paddock.**

Teddy, who had slowly relaxed after the flight was over, saw another red flag go up here. Hagrid had allowed only one person to approach one hippogriff at a time, so that he could be right there if anything happened.

**Neville ran repeatedly backward from his, which didn't seem to want to bend its knees. Ron and Hermione practiced on the chestnut, while Harry watched.**

**Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had taken over Buckbeak. He had bowed to Malfoy, who was now patting his beak, looking disdainful.**

Scorpius's stomach dropped as Rose frowned.

"That's the worst thing you can be around a hippogriff," she said.

Scorpius wasn't sure if his father knew how to be anything but disdainful yet.

In a horrible moment of clarity, Teddy could see what was going to happen and he wished he could jump into the book and stop it from taking place. Hagrid didn't deserve his first class to go so horribly wrong like this.

"**This is very easy," Malfoy drawled, loud enough for Harry to hear him. "I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it. . . . I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?" he said to the hippogriff. "Are you, you great ugly brute?"**

"No!" Lily cried sharply, but it was far, far too late.

Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut as if that could block what happened next and the rest winced in anticipation.

**It happened in a flash of steely talons; Malfoy let out a highpitched scream and next moment, Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar as he strained to get at Malfoy, who lay curled in the grass, blood blossoming over his robes.**

Scorpius felt almost hollow. It didn't matter right then what a foul git his father had been, that he had brought this upon himself, or even that every word out of his mouth made Scorpius dislike the boy in the books even more. It was still his thirteen-year-old father crumpled on the ground in a bloody heap. He got, for the first time, a taste of what every other chapter seemed to hold for Al and his brother and sister.

Rose had her hands over her mouth and Lily and Hugo had gone wide-eyed once more. Albus was looking from the book to Scorpius and Teddy had screwed up his face in anticipation. James didn't seem to have a reaction and Fred kept reading.

"**I'm dying!" Malfoy yelled as the class panicked. "I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"**

"Melodramatic much," Rose murmured, but she still looked worried. She knew hippogriffs could be dangerous. She had done all her research.

"**Yer not dyin'!" said Hagrid, who had gone very white. "Someone help me — gotta get him outta here —"**

**Hermione ran to hold open the gate as Hagrid lifted Malfoy easily. As they passed, Harry saw that there was a long, deep gash on Malfoy's arm; blood splattered the grass and Hagrid ran with him, up the slope toward the castle.**

Scorpius tried to remember if there were any marks on his fathers' arms, any scars he had seen all his life and never known where they came from.

The rest exchanged horrified looks. Even James. For all he might say about Malfoy, he had some humanity in him even for that slime-ball. He wouldn't wish any kid dead. He wasn't like Malfoy himself.

**Very shaken, the Care of Magical Creatures class followed at a walk. The Slytherins were all shouting about Hagrid.**

"**They should fire him straight away!" said Pansy Parkinson, who was in tears.**

Scorpius scowled at the mention of Pansy.

"**It was Malfoy's fault!" snapped Dean Thomas. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly.**

The repercussions of what had happened were beginning to hit the group. Anger was beginning to replace shock and horror on many faces.

**They all climbed the stone steps into the deserted entrance hall.**

"**I'm going to see if he's okay!" said Pansy, and they all watched her run up the marble staircase. The Slytherins, still muttering about Hagrid, headed away in the direction of their dungeon common room; Harry, Ron, and Hermione proceeded upstairs to Gryffindor Tower.**

"**D'you think he'll be all right?" said Hermione nervously.**

" '**Course he will. Madam Pomfrey can mend cuts in about a second," said Harry, who had had far worse injuries mended magically by the nurse.**

This reassured Scorpius, started to calm him down. Surely if Harry could get his bones regrown, those gashes would have been no problem for the matron. He couldn't remember any scars, not that his father often had his sleeves rolled up or wore anything but the long, formal robes all those from old, pure-blood families always wore.

His father would be perfectly fine. And so would Hagrid's job, now that he thought about it. But somehow he couldn't see how that would work out exactly. Surely a teacher whose student was injured like that would not be allowed to continue teaching? It wasn't that he wished Hagrid out of a job, but if it were any other teacher, he would be shocked and scandalized that they had kept their job.

"**That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first class, though, wasn't it?" said Ron, looking worried. "Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him. . . ."**

Scorpius's first reaction was to defend his father. It had been Hagrid's beast that had done the messing-up, after all… Or had it? He remembered his father whispering to Crabbe and Goyle during the instructions. He had deliberately not been paying attention, but that was something teachers had to expect and deal with in classes... Yet how could someone be stupid enough to disregard instructions around such fearsome creatures?

He didn't know what to think about this! He still couldn't believe his father had actually been attacked.

**They were among the first to reach the Great Hall at dinnertime, hoping to see Hagrid, but he wasn't there.**

"**They **_**wouldn't **_**fire him, would they?" said Hermione anxiously, not touching her steak-and-kidney pudding.**

"**They'd better not," said Ron, who wasn't eating either. **

**Harry was watching the Slytherin table. A large group including Crabbe and Goyle was huddled together, deep in conversation. Harry was sure they were cooking up their own version of how Malfoy had been injured.**

"They can't do that!" Rose burst out, unable to keep quiet any longer, no matter what Scorpius was thinking. "Malfoy got hurt because he ws being an idiot! It's not Hagrid's fault!"

"Try explaining that to the school governors," Teddy said dully. "Ron's right, this was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first class. It's a miracle he got to keep that job at all."

James, who's face had been stormy with anger, looked somewhat mollified by this reminder. Hagrid had won, after all. He had not lost his job because of Malfoy's idiocy. But who knew how hard it had been for him to hang onto it?

"**Well, you can't say it wasn't an interesting first day back," said Ron gloomily.**

**They went up to the crowded Gryffindor common room after dinner and tried to do the homework Professor McGonagall had given them, but all three of them kept breaking off and glancing out of the tower window.**

"**There's a light on in Hagrid's window," Harry said suddenly. Ron looked at his watch.**

"**If we hurried, we could go down and see him. It's still quite early. . . ."**

"**I don't know," Hermione said slowly, and Harry saw her glance at him.**

"They can't keep him locked in the castle," James grumbled.

Lily bit her lip. "But what about the tea leaves.  
>"Lily, that was a bunch of staged BS," James burst out impatiently. "Dad's not going to get attacked by Sirius!"<p>

"Who says it had to be Sirius that attacked him?" Lily shot back.

"Then who?" James demanded.

"Anyone!" Lily squealed.

"You didn't have such a problem with Dad wondering off into the forest in the middle of the night in the last book."

"Of course I did! He was following spiders!"

Fred interrupted their argument and kept reading.

"**I'm allowed to walk across the **_**grounds,**_**" he said pointedly. "Sirius Black hasn't got past the dementors yet, has he?"**

"Actually, yes," James pointed out. "If he could escape past them, he can break in past them. Not that it really matters anyway…."

**So they put their things away and headed out of the portrait hole, glad to meet nobody on their way to the front doors, as they weren't entirely sure they were supposed to be out.**

**The grass was still wet and looked almost black in the twilight. When they reached Hagrid's hut, they knocked, and a voice growled, "C'min."**

**Hagrid was sitting in his shirtsleeves at his scrubbed wooden table; his boarhound, Fang, had his head in Hagrid's lap. One look told them that Hagrid had been drinking a lot; there was a pewter tankard almost as big as a bucket in front of him, and he seemed to be having difficulty getting them into focus.**

"Uh-oh," Albus murmured. That didn't sound good.

" '**Spect it's a record," he said thickly, when he recognized them. "Don' reckon they've ever had a teacher who lasted on'y a day before." **

"What!" James exploded. "They _can't _fire him!"

They could, Scorpius thought miserably. They probably even should, but the idea made him feel a little sick. Hagrid was one of the best people he knew. This just wasn't fair.

"**You haven't been fired, Hagrid!" gasped Hermione.**

"**Not yet," said Hagrid miserably, taking a huge gulp of whatever was in the tankard. "But 's only a matter o' time, i'n't it, after Malfoy . . ."**

James let out his breath. "Good. If he'd gotten fired for Malfoy's mistake, I'd have to go find someone to jinx."

"**How is he?" said Ron as they all sat down. "It wasn't serious, was it?"**

"**Madam Pomfrey fixed him best she could," said Hagrid dully, "but he's sayin' it's still agony . . . covered in bandages. . . moanin' . . ."**

Scorpius felt the first twinge of annoyance, which he tried to quash, if only because he liked not almost hating his father. Maybe there was something in hippogriff talons that really hurt, but from everything he knew about this boy in the books, there was a better chance his father was playing up the injury. And that was something had never been able to stand, even as a little kid.

"**He's faking it," said Harry at once. "Madam Pomfrey can mend anything. She regrew half my bones last year. Trust Malfoy to milk it for all it's worth."**

There were several outraged growls at this, but Fred just kept reading.

"**School gov'nors have bin told, o' course," said Hagrid miserably.**

"Thank Merlin old Lucius isn't one of them anymore," James said under his breath.

"**They reckon I started too big. Shoulda left hippogriffs fer later . . . done flobberworms or summat. . . . **

James made a face. "No, that would have been way worse."

**Jus' thought it'd make a good firs' lesson. . . . 'S all my fault. . . ."**

"**It's all **_**Malfoy's **_**fault, Hagrid!" said Hermione earnestly.**

"**We're witnesses," said Harry. "You said hippogriffs attack if you insult them. It's Malfoy's problem that he wasn't listening. We'll tell Dumbledore what really happened."**

"**Yeah, don't worry, Hagrid, we'll back you up," said Ron.**

"Because that's what friends are for," Hugo said forcefully. He was extremely proud of both his parents and his uncle in that moment, although he wouldn't have expected anything less of them.

**Tears leaked out of the crinkled corners of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes. He grabbed both Harry and Ron and pulled them into a bone-breaking hug.**

"**I think you've had enough to drink, Hagrid," said Hermione firmly. **

James snorted.

**She took the tankard from the table and went outside to empty it.**

"**Ar, maybe she's right," said Hagrid, letting go of Harry and Ron, who both staggered away, rubbing their ribs. Hagrid heaved himself out of his chair and followed Hermione unsteadily outside. They heard a loud splash.**

"**What's he done?" said Harry nervously as Hermione came back in with the empty tankard.**

"**Stuck his head in the water barrel," said Hermione, putting the tankard away.**

**Hagrid came back, his long hair and beard sopping wet, wiping the water out of his eyes.**

"**Tha's better," he said, shaking his head like a dog and drenching them all. "Listen, it was good of yeh ter come an' see me, **

"Well, they weren't about to let you stew in your own misery," Albus said with a faint smile.

**I really —"**

**Hagrid stopped dead, staring at Harry as though he'd only just realized he was there.**

"**WHAT D'YEH THINK YOU'RE DOIN', EH?" he roared, so suddenly that they jumped a foot in the air. **

"What?" James demanded, taken aback like the others at this abrupt mood swing.

"**YEH'RE NOT TO GO WANDERIN' AROUND AFTER DARK, HARRY! AN'**

**YOU TWO! LETTIN' HIM!"**

"Well, that'll get Mum feeling guilty at least," said Rose.

"They could hardly stop him," James pointed out in his aunt and uncle's defense.

"Hagrid's as worried as the rest," Teddy sighed.

**Hagrid strode over to Harry, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the door.**

"**C'mon!" Hagrid said angrily. "I'm takin' yer all back up ter school, an' don' let me catch yeh walkin' down ter see me after dark again. I'm not worth that!"**

Fred closed the book on that dramatic note.

They all looked at each other, perfectly aware of what 'that' was. Even though they all knew Sirius was not a real threat, it was hard to shake the dangerous mood of the book.

"Who wants to read next?" Fred asked after a beat.

**A/N: ? Please… tell us… what you thought. Sorry if it got kind of rushed at the end. I'm am literally in a daze right now and am not sure if I can even feel the fingers that are typing… your thoughts would be a lovely gift for us and would make me feel like this ridiculously late night was worth something. Thanks :)**


	7. The Boggart in the Wardrobe

**Disclaimer: We own Harry Potter just like the sky is green and things fall up hill. **

**A/N: :) Finally done. Sorry it's a bit late! I really thought we'd have it done yesterday, but things got in the way. I'll let you get onto reading, but first thanks so much if you reviewed the last chapter! We love you all! :D **

Chapter Seven

The Boggart in the Wardrobe

"I'll read," Rose offered, not having had the opportunity for quite a while. She leaned forward to pick up the book, and as she flipped to the correct chapter, something familiar and comforting slipped into place for her. She was where she belonged: behind the pages of a book.

**Chapter Seven**

**The Boggart in the Wardrobe **

The entire group reacted to this title… except Scorpius, of course. James, Fred and Teddy were all practically bouncing with excitement, though for slightly different reasons. Lily and Hugo exchanged looks of excitement and Rose and Albus both sat up straighter, even more enthralled with this chapter than before.

Scorpius sighed loudly. "_What _is it this time?"

"It's the Boggart in the Wardrobe! It's practically legendary," Fred explained… though not very helpfully.

"Don't you know what the first third year Defense Against the Dark Arts class is?" Rose asked, surprised that Scorpius hadn't heard about it the year before.

He shook his head, raising an eyebrow. "I don't have anybody to tell me about the Hogwarts curriculum in advance," he reminded her.

"Well, it's only one of the best classed you'll ever have," James told him excitedly.

"And Teddy's dad started it," Lily chimed in, proud that she could contribute this fact to the conversation, something Scorpius Malfoy, nearly a _second _year at Hogwarts, didn't know.

"We've heard this story loads of times," Albus explained, grinning. "Dad loves to tell it, I think even more than Neville."

"Why does Neville like to tell it?" Scorpius inquired, but he only got smirks for answers.

"First week back, me and Fred are gonna kick that spook's arse!" James exclaimed, driving his fist into is open palm for emphasis, anticipation already coursing through his veins at the prospect. He had no qualms whatsoever about wrestling his greatest fear in front of his entire class. The more people that got to see whatever he was afraid of pummeled and humiliated, the better, really.

"Wait a minute," Scorpius broke in, eyes widening with slight panic. "We have to _fight _a Boggart in our very first lesson! Without ever being taught before?"

"Well, Lancing obviously teaches you the spell before he sets a Boggart on you," James rolled his eyes.

"So you get to practice it, like, what? Once?" Scorpius's voice had gone slightly higher than usual.

Albus couldn't help but agree with his friend. James couldn't wait to face his fears, but Albus didn't feel quite the same way about his own. Especially with only a few minutes to practice what he was supposed to do and all of his classmates watching.

"Don't worry, Scorp. It's not that bad," Rose assured him. "Most kids say it's one of the best lessons of the year. You'll see once we read this chapter, I'm sure."

But Scorpius wasn't soothed so easily. Instead, he looked over at Teddy, who had surely already had this lesson. Granted he was training to be an Auror, so he must be fantastic at dealing with boggarts, and maybe wasn't the best opinion to go off of, but Scorpius asked anyway. "What's it really like?"

Teddy hesitated, recalling his lesson on boggarts. It had been a breeze for him, but only because he'd been unlucky enough to stumble across a boggart in Grimauld Place the year before. Not only had he already known exactly what his greatest fear was, but Harry had made sure, after that terrifying experience, that Teddy could get rid of a boggart practically in his sleep. And the fact that he knew Professor Lancing had gotten the idea from his father had made it feel almost like his dad was there teaching him somehow.

It might not be so easy for Scorpius, but he decided to go with the encouraging approach for now. Confidence was half the battle with boggarts, after all.

"Rosie's right, don't worry about it. Even if you knew the spell beforehand you can't really practice it without a boggart anyway. Lancing makes sure you know what you're doing."

He smiled reassuringly and waved Rose to keep reading. Teddy was eager to hear this chapter. Al was right in saying they had all heard this story scores of times, but never in quite the detail Teddy would have liked. Ron liked to relive his conquest over the giant spider, Harry usually focused on Neville's victory, and they all underlined how this had earned his father 'cool' status among the professors. But of course, who could remember all the details? What his father had said, how he'd gone about teaching them. And come to think of it, Teddy couldn't remember anybody mentioning what Harry's first encounter with a boggart had been like. Harry had probably been a natural at using the spell, but it would be fascinating to hear his thoughts, to see if he'd been scared the first time, too.

There was so much between the lines and behind the story that he – that all of them, really – wanted to know.

Rose cleared her throat and started reading.

**Malfoy didn't reappear in classes until late on Thursday morning, when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. **

Scorpius had momentarily forgotten about his father's injury and who should take the blame for it, but the confused tangle of feelings came rushing back to him.

**He swaggered into the dungeon, his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, acting, in Harry's opinion, as though he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.**

James grimaced. "Dad's had worse."

"Who _has _had worse than your dad, though?" Scorpius pointed out. He was annoyed by the way his father was acting, but in all honesty, for most kids, being slashed by a hippogriff would be the equivalent of surviving a dreadful battle. But he could hardly expect Harry to have much sympathy considering what he had survived.

"**How is it, Draco?" simpered Pansy Parkinson. "Does it hurt much?"**

Scorpius made a face.

"**Yeah," said Malfoy, putting on a brave sort of grimace. But Harry saw him wink at Crabbe and Goyle when Pansy had looked away.**

"I knew it," James growled. "What a faker."

Scorpius sighed inwardly as the rest scowled darkly and Rose made an angry noise in the back of her throat. So it really was all an act. He'd expected as much, but it didn't stop him from being disappointed. Once again, he would be fighting against his father. Funny how they had hardly had any disagreements before he'd started reading these books. But maybe that was just because his dad hardly ever voiced his opinions around him.

"**Settle down, settle down," said Professor Snape idly.**

**Harry and Ron scowled at each other; Snape wouldn't have said "settle down" if **_**they'd **_**walked in late, he'd have given them detention. But Malfoy had always been able to get away with anything in Snape's classes; **

"Well, maybe if they'd been injured, he wouldn't have given them detention," Scorpius tried feebly to defend.

But James's skeptical snort was more than enough of a counter-argument. Based on the last couple books, Snape would be happy to give Harry a detention if he so much as sneezed funny.

**Snape was head of Slytherin House, and generally favored his own students above all others.**

"We haven't got teachers like that, have we?" Albus wondered suddenly.

"Of course not," Rose said at once. She happened to like all of their teachers very much. And they all happened to like Rose quite a bit, too.

"Are you kidding?" James snorted. "Bridwell _loves _all the Ravenclaws."

"Maybe that's because they all make straight O's in her classes," Albus suggested.

"She still doesn't have to shower them with points," his brother grumbled.

Rose rolled her eyes. "If you paid attention in class, she might give you points, too."

"It's a biased system," James declared, crossing his arms. "I think I'll continue my peaceful protesting by not paying attention."

"Good luck with that," Rose told him dryly before returning to book once more.

**They were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution.**

Fred yawned pointedly, not caring to spend his summer holidays hearing about schoolwork, but there was an eager tone in Rose's voice.

**Malfoy set up his cauldron right next to Harry and Ron, so that they were preparing their ingredients on the same table.**

"Why?" Lily asked suspiciously. Malfoy had always sat with his friends across the dungeon as far as she could remember.

"To be an annoying git," James grumbled.

Scorpius was sure he was right.

"**Sir," Malfoy called, "sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm —"**

"**Weasley, cut up Malfoy's roots for him," said Snape without looking up.**

"That's why," Hugo told Lily, scowling.

**Ron went brick red.**

"**There's nothing wrong with your arm," he hissed at Malfoy.**

**Malfoy smirked across the table.**

"**Weasley, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these roots."**

It didn't seep into her voice, but Rose read this line with a slightly bitter twist to her mouth. It was exactly this kind of person that she simply _couldn't _stand.

**Ron seized his knife, pulled Malfoy's roots toward him, and began to chop them roughly, so that they were all different sizes.**

Teddy winced. "I don't think that's going to go over well, somehow."

"**Professor," drawled Malfoy, "Weasley's mutilating my roots, sir."**

"That's what you get for being a faker," said Hugo forcefully.

**Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair.**

"**Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley."**

Rose grimaced sympathetically. It was fair, she had to admit, but it didn't seem like it with Malfoy faking his injury.

"**But, sir — !"**

**Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces.**

"The first time he put so much care into his potions," Teddy said with amusement. "No wonder he hated potions so much."

"_**Now,**_**" said Snape in his most dangerous voice.**

**Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots across the table at Malfoy, then took up the knife again.**

"**And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned," said Malfoy, his voice full of malicious laughter.**

_Malicious, _Scorpius thought. The word felt heavy and sour in his head, but he knew it was an accurate description. How could it now be with that boy?

But, he told himself, his father was just being a little brat. It wasn't as if he were actually hurting people. Except maybe Hagrid, but that was by extension…. Either way, it wasn't worth getting upset over every little irritating thing he did.

"**Potter, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig," said Snape, giving Harry the look of loathing he always reserved just for him.**

Albus felt the pang of irony that he – who looked so much like his father – should carry this man's name. He wondered if his father _hadn't _just chosen it to spite the man.

**Harry took Malfoy's shrivelfig as Ron began trying to repair the damage to the roots he now had to use. Harry skinned the shrivelfig as fast as he could and flung it back across the table at Malfoy without speaking. Malfoy was smirking more broadly than ever.**

James was itching to hex Malfoy's shoelaces together or throw a dungbomb into his cauldron or any of the other pranks he might pull on a particularly unpleasant classmate. It was infuriating to be hearing about this twenty years too late.

"**Seen your pal Hagrid lately?" he asked them quietly.**

Hugo made a mildly outraged noise. Rubbing salt in wounds, that was what his mother would call it. That was what Henry Brignold liked to do to _him_ and it always stung just like salt in a paper cut. He couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts, if only because he could get away from his classmates. He didn't even think Lily wanted their first day of Hogwarts to come so desperately. At least there he'd have Rose and Lily and all his cousins.

"**None of your business," said Ron jerkily, without looking up.**

"**I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer," said Malfoy in a tone of mock sorrow. "Father's not very happy about my injury —"**

"**Keep talking, Malfoy, and I'll give you a real injury," snarled Ron.**

"Do it," James encouraged under his breath.

"— **he's complained to the school governors. **_**And **_**to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this" — he gave a huge, fake sigh — "who knows if my arm'll ever be the same again?"**

"It will," Scorpius muttered.

"Too bad his daddy's not a school governor anymore," Fred said with dislike.

"And that he threatened and blackmailed them last year," Teddy added, smirking a little. "No wonder he had to go to the Ministry. The governors wouldn't believe anything he said after what he pulled last year."

"I think that might be worse, though," Albus said quietly. "The Ministry can do more damage than the governors, can't they?"

"It depends," said Rose, ever the expert on legal matters. "If the governors insist it's an internal school matter, they can overrule Ministry interference, but only if no laws above C status have been broken. Which might be more of a problem here, considering a student was allegedly maimed…."

"Pickled toads," James said.

"What?" Rose asked, bewildered.

"Deep-sea worms," Fred added.

"Lily's nail polish collection."

"My History of Magic homework."

"What are you talking about?" Lily demanded.

"All the things we care more about than whatever Rose was just going on about," James explained.

Rose rolled her eyes, but didn't even attempt to argue with them. She looked back at the book.

"**So that's why you're putting it on," said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger. "To try to get Hagrid fired."**

"Of course, what else would he be doing?" Teddy said under his breath while Lily wrinkled her nose at the dead caterpillar's fate.

"**Well," said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, "**_**partly, **_**Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillars**__**for me."**

**A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. **

"Oh, Neville," Lily said sympathetically.

**Neville regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse. **

"I can imagine," Albus mumbled. It was another irony that if he had had Snape as a teacher, Albus would have been terrified to go into his classes.

"He's actually _afraid _of him?" James asked. It was just rather impossible for him to imagine Neville, war hero and fearless conqueror of Boggarts, being afraid of Snape. Hating him, sure, but being afraid of him? Never.

**His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned —**

"**Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing it to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see. "Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? **

"Uncalled for," Rose interrupted herself to say indignantly. "Insulting your students is _not _going to help them learn. He shouldn't be allowed to be around children."

"And Neville's never even done anything to make Snape hate him," Lily added, crossing her arms and setting her jaw in a way that looked very much like her mother. But the gleam of justice in her eyes was most definitely her father's.

"Neither did Dad," James said indignantly.

"He's famous," Lily shrugged. "Plus, Snape and Dad's dad didn't get along at school, did they? Neville doesn't even have that. Snape's just mean to him because he likes to see him cower, and that's cruel."

"She speaks wise words," Teddy agreed, smiling a little at her. He'd learned long ago never to underestimate Lily's perceptions.

**Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"**

"Try not tearing his self-confidence to pieces," Rose muttered, scowling.

**Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.**

"Oh," Lily sighed.

James shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like to hear about Neville like this. Neville was one of the bravest people he knew and it seemed to change everything about him to know he had once been quite the opposite.

"**Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it right —"**

"**I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. **

"Git," Hugo snapped, scowling. "Mum's not showing off, she's trying to help her friend."

"He's unreasonably spiteful," Rose said angrily. "How could they keep him as a teacher?"

Teddy looked thoughtful. "It doesn't seem to be for his teaching skills, so my bet is Dumbledore has something to do with it."

Rose shrugged, still looking angry, and returned to reading.

"**Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."**

Rose read this with increasing outrage, but it was Lily who squawked first.

"That – that's _not right_!" she half-shrieked, shooting to her knees and looking stormy. "It's not the toad's fault! It could kill him, couldn't it?" she looked over at Rose, who nodded, jaw clenched. "And Neville can't help it, either! Snape never _taught _him how to do it right! He's going to have to poison his own toad!"

She swiped angrily at the few hot tears of outrage that had leaked out of her eyes.

"Easy, Lil," James told her, pulling her back to the ground. "It's not worth crying over."

"Yes it is, James Potter," Lily snapped as more angry tears slipped down her cheeks. She swatted his hands away. "How would you like it if you had to poison Marvin? Teachers can't _do _that!"

"Hey," Teddy said soothingly, rubbing her back. "You know Hermione wouldn't let that actually happen." A moment ago, Lily had sounded wise beyond her years, but this reminded him that she was, after all, only ten.

"I know," Lily mumbled, calming down a little. She had gone Weasley-red from anger at Snape and embarrassment at looking like a baby. "Yeah, I know."

James rolled his eyes. Why was it that Lily listened to Teddy more than she listened to her own flesh-and-blood brother?

"Well, you can hardly blame Neville for being afraid of Snape after this," Rose said bitterly. "He's _bullying _his students."

There was just something so wrong about a teacher being able to do this. For most students it was probably just a few unpleasant hours a week, but for kids like Neville, Snape could do real damage. Rose looked to her teachers for guidance, help, and encouragement. She valued their opinions as highly as she valued her parents' opinions most of the time. She couldn't imagine being treated this way by one of them.

Thank goodness Teddy's father would be in this chapter. He must have been the antithesis of Snape.

**Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with fear.**

"**Help me!" he moaned to Hermione.**

"See?" Teddy asked Lily.

She nodded, smiling a little, and straightened up, trying to pretend as if nothing had happened. That was how you stopped people from looking at you when you were embarrassed. If you curled into a ball, they'd think it was okay to stare, but if you pretended there was nothing to be embarrassed over, they would act that way, too. James had taught her that.

"**Hey, Harry," said Seamus Finnigan, leaning over to borrow Harry's brass scales, "have you heard? **_**Daily Prophet **_**this morning — they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."**

James's head shot up. In fact, everyone seemed to straighten, curious by this new turn of conversation.

"**Where?" said Harry and Ron quickly. On the other side of the table, Malfoy looked up, listening closely.**

"Why does he care?" Fred wondered.

"He probably knows a lot about Sirius and his escape," Teddy guessed. "If his dad has so much influence with the ministry, plus the whole… you know, Voldemort thing."

"So why's he got to listen in?" Hugo asked.

Teddy shrugged, although he could guess the answer would never be a good one.

Scorpius had suddenly realized that Teddy had a very good point. His father _did _know an awful lot, presumably from his own father. Things that he shouldn't have known. His grandfather had told his father a great deal, but his father never told Scorpius anything. Why? It wasn't just opinions, his father didn't offer up facts either, unless they had to do with potions or chess or flying…. He didn't know what it meant, but it was something else to add to the list.

"**Not too far from here," said Seamus, who looked excited. "It was a Muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone."**

"**Not too far from here . . . ," Ron repeated, looking significantly at Harry. **

"What do you suppose he's really up to?" James asked. "I mean, Sirius must know the school's guarded. Why would he come towards Hogwarts?"

The rest shrugged.

"It'll get everyone freaked out though, the adults, anyway," Albus pointed out, grimacing at what that was likely going to mean for his dad. Even more security….

**He turned around and saw Malfoy watching closely.**

"**What, Malfoy? Need something else skinned?"**

**But Malfoy's eyes were shining malevolently, and they were fixed on Harry. He leaned across the table.**

Teddy felt a squirm of unease at this description, a feeling that Scorpius apparently shared.

"**Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?"**

"**Yeah, that's right," said Harry offhandedly.**

Teddy raised an eyebrow. Was Harry just not paying attention to what Malfoy said, or was he really thinking about going after Sirius?

**Malfoy's thin mouth was curving in a mean smile.**

"**Of course, if it was me," he said quietly, "I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good boy, I'd be out there looking for him."**

"What's he on about?" Fred asked. At first he had assumed Malfoy was alluding to Harry's tendency to end up in the middle of things, but this didn't seem like some snarky comment born of jealousy.

Rose kept reading for an answer.

"**What are you talking about, Malfoy?" said Ron roughly.**

"**Don't you **_**know, **_**Potter?" breathed Malfoy, his pale eyes narrowed. **

"Know what?" James demanded.

"**Know what?"**

**Malfoy let out a low, sneering laugh.**

"**Maybe you'd rather not risk your neck," he said. "Want to leave it to the dementors, do you? But if it was me, I'd want revenge. I'd hunt him down myself."**

"Why would Dad want revenge on Sirius?" James asked angrily, but a bit of alarm was trickling into him, cold and uncomfortable on the back of his neck.

'He might know Sirius was Dad's godfather," Albus suggested.

"But why would Dad want _revenge_?" James insisted.

Both boys turned to Teddy.

"He could just be saying something he knew would get under Harry's skin," Teddy said slowly. "There might be nothing behind it."

James nodded, trying to accept this explanation. But part of him couldn't. Part of him was wondering what exactly Sirius's story _was _and thinking he probably didn't want to know.

"_**What are you talking about**_**?" said Harry angrily, but at that moment Snape called, "You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's. . . ."**

"He's really going to do it," Lily said, biting her lip. She'd hoped it was just an empty threat, a mean way to get Neville to work harder, but he was really going to test it.

"Hermione's helping Neville," Teddy reminded her, and she nodded.

**Crabbe and Goyle laughed openly, watching Neville sweat as he stirred his potion feverishly. Hermione was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of her mouth, so that Snape wouldn't see. Harry and Ron packed away their unused ingredients and went to wash their hands and ladles in the stone basin in the corner.**

"**What did Malfoy mean?" Harry muttered to Ron as he stuck his hands under the icy jet that poured from the gargoyle's mouth.**

"Wouldn't we all like to know," James muttered.

"**Why would I want revenge on Black? He hasn't done anything to me — yet."**

"**He's making it up," said Ron savagely. "He's trying to make you do something stupid. . . ."**

"Probably," Teddy agreed, glancing at James. He very much hoped James would believe it, at least for now. He was starting to slip into a stormy, brooding mood, and that wouldn't be fun for any of them.

James just shook his head. Sirius just kept getting wrapped up tighter and tighter in mysteries and secrets the more they found out.

**The end of the lesson in sight, Snape strode over to Neville, who was cowering by his cauldron.**

"**Everyone gather 'round," said Snape, his black eyes glittering, "and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."**

"He even _thinks _it will kill the toad!" Lily exclaimed. She was not bringing her pets to school, not after this.

"Stop worrying, Lil," Hugo told her, grinning across the circle. "_Mum _helped him. Which means Snape's going to be wrong and look like an idiot."

Fred smirked gleefully, and Lily did look slightly happier.

**The Gryffindors watched fearfully. The Slytherins looked excited. Snape picked up Trevor the toad in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion, which was now green. He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat.**

**There was a moment of hushed silence, in which Trevor gulped; then there was a small pop, and Trevor the tadpole was wriggling in Snape's palm.**

Fred, James, and Hugo cheered. Lily slumped with relief. Albus and Scorpius exchanged grins, but Rose kept reading.

**The Gryffindors burst into applause. Snape, looking sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown.**

"**Five points from Gryffindor," said Snape, which wiped the smiles from every face. **

"What for?" James burst out angrily. "The potion was good!"

"**I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed."**

"That's not –" Lily started.

"_Snape's _not fair," Albus interrupted. "What else did you expect? At least Neville didn't have to kill his toad."

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the steps to the entrance hall. Harry was still thinking about what Malfoy had said, **

Albus wished he wouldn't. If his father was anything like James, it _would _lead to him doing something stupid. As if the last two books weren't enough proof of the situations curiosity got his father into.

**while Ron was seething about Snape.**

"**Five points from Gryffindor because the potion was all right! Why didn't you lie, Hermione? You should've said Neville did it all by himself!"**

"But Snape wouldn't have believed that," James said bitterly. _Who would have?_ He couldn't help but think it, even if it was a bit mean. But James doubted there was anyone in that class besides his aunt and Snape himself that would have known how to put the potion right.

**Hermione didn't answer. Ron looked around.**

"**Where is she?"**

**Harry turned too. They were at the top of the steps now, watching the rest of the class pass them, heading for the Great Hall and lunch.**

"**She was right behind us," said Ron, frowning.**

The group exchanged curious looks.

"Maybe she accidentally figured out how to apparate," Fred suggested. "She is a genius, after all."

Rose kept reading. She'd expected to be in on some of the mysteries of this book, but that wasn't the case at all, apparently.

**Malfoy passed them, walking between Crabbe and Goyle. He smirked at Harry and disappeared.**

"**There she is," said Harry.**

**Hermione was panting slightly, hurrying up the stairs; one hand clutched her bag, the other seemed to be tucking something down the front of her robes.**

They exchanged another set of bewildered looks.

"**How did you do that?" said Ron.**

"**What?" said Hermione, joining them.**

"**One minute you were right behind us, the next moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs again."**

"**What?" Hermione looked slightly confused. "Oh — I had to go back for something. Oh no —"**

**A seam had split on Hermione's bag. Harry wasn't surprised; he could see that it was crammed with at least a dozen large and heavy books.**

"**Why are you carrying all these around with you?" Ron asked her.**

"**You know how many subjects I'm taking," said Hermione breathlessly. "Couldn't hold these for me, could you?"**

"**But —" Ron was turning over the books she had handed him, looking at the covers. "You haven't got any of these subjects today. It's only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."**

"Alright, something's up with _her, _too," James said with frustration. "And I have a feeling it's something cool that Hermione's trapped into purely nerdy uses."

Teddy's mind once again flashed to time-turners. It was the only explanation he could come up with for Hermione attending multiple classes at the same time. But that was _impossible_. They wouldn't rent one out to a student, and besides, he didn't even think there _were _any at the time.

"**Oh yes," said Hermione vaguely, but she packed all the books back into her bag just the same. "I hope there's something good for lunch, I'm starving," she added, and she marched off toward the Great Hall.**

"**D'you get the feeling Hermione's not telling us something?" Ron asked Harry.**

"Not at all," Rose said sarcastically under her breath. It was infuriating not to understand what was going on.

"It must be big, too," Fred observed. "For her not to tell _them _about it."

**Professor Lupin wasn't there when they arrived at his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. **

A thrill of excitement mixed with confusion shot through the group, most intensely in Teddy.

"Where is he?" Lily asked, frowning.

"He's a cool teacher," James reminded Lily. "He's got to be late to be a cool teacher."

Here was another detail that had been omitted in all the times Teddy had heard this story. It changed the whole thing, somehow, knowing this one little bit. He thought ruefully if this was where he got his punctuality tendencies. Or rather, his lack of them.

**They all sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals.**

"**Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."**

"Those are the words you need to win over a class," James grinned, getting excited in spite of the whole Sirius issue.

**A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts before, unless you counted the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.**

"That most definitely doesn't count as a lesson," Rose declared.

"I can't believe it took two years for them to have a practical lesson," Albus said incredulously. How had they learned anything? Professor Lancing had a practical lesson at least once a week if he could swing it.

"**Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."**

**Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. **

"Where are they going?" Scorpius questioned. He was paying close attention now, hoping Rose was right and he had no reason to be nervous for this lesson.

"Well, sometimes you can't get a boggart into the classroom," Teddy explained. "Lancing usually tries to get them into trunks, but they're not always so accommodating."

**He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.**

Fred and James high-fived each other, smirking.

"Good old Peeves," Fred said. "I missed him."

**Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song.**

"**Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin —"**

"He does that to me, too," Teddy murmured. He had found it incredibly irritating while he was in school (not least because the Slytherins had taken up the chorus, that was until Peeves had dumped several gallons of ink on their heads for stealing his song), but now it made him smile a little.

**Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers. Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; **

Teddy was just as curious. He had never heard this little anecdote before.

**to their surprise, he was still smiling.**

"Of course he was. He could take a joke," James grinned.

Teddy smiled to, an idea occurring to him.

"**I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."**

"Even better," Fred laughed.

**Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves. However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry.**

**Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand.**

"**This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."**

**He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "**_**Waddiwasi**_**!" and pointed it at Peeves.**

**With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; **

Fred, James, and Teddy burst into laughter, and Lily and Hugo giggled behind their hands.

"That's brilliant! " James cried. "He did not just teach an entire class of third years how to do that!"

"He did!" Fred said excitedly. "Wish Lancing would teach us stuff like that."

"You might be the reason he doesn't," Rose told him.

"Go on, Rosie," Teddy said impatiently, controlling his mirth. "What happened next?"

**he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.**

"I reckon Peeves liked my dad like he likes Fred," Teddy said excitedly, reveling in the newly-found puzzle piece he had discovered.

"What makes you say that?" Albus asked. Teddy's dad had just shot gum up Peeves's nose. How could that get him on Peeves's good side?

"He took off, didn't he?" Teddy said. "He didn't whip out a paper-wad shooter or steel his briefcase or anything. Since when does Peeves not retaliate? It makes sense, though, doesn't it? Peeves remembered him and Dad was smiling when Peeves started singing that song. I reckon he earned Peeves's respect or something, pulling pranks right back on him when he does stuff like that. That's why he would follow me around singing that stupid song, but he wouldn't let the Slytherins take it. He might be mad, but he respects his equals."

He was practically giddy with the discovery. Long ago, he had put to rest any real hope of finding out more about his parents than what the rest had already been able to tell him, tried to be satisfied with the half-pictures of them he had in his head. Every new detail made him feel less alone.

"**Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement.**

"**Thank you, Dean," said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?"**

**They set off again, the class looking at shabby Professor Lupin with increased respect. **

So that was how it happened, Teddy thought, an odd feeling settling in his chest. That was why so many people told him what a great teacher his dad was. He fought back a laugh at the idea. And this was also proof that his father hadn't been all seriousness as he had seemed in all the pictures, that he really did have a mischievous side as Harry always insisted. It was comforting somehow, to see that.

**He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door.**

"**Inside, please," said Professor Lupin, opening it and standing back.**

**The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape **

"Typical," James scowled. As if they hadn't had enough of him earlier.

**was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this."**

**He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."**

"That was uncalled for," Teddy said, frowning in disapproval. Most of what Snape did was, but this seemed especially childish and low, tearing down a student in someone else's class, particularly after nearly killing his pet.

Lily was glaring at the book again. If she hadn't liked Snape before, she really hated him now. Neville was one of the nicest people she knew.

**Neville went scarlet. Harry glared at Snape; it was bad enough that he bullied Neville in his own classes, let alone doing it in front of other teachers.**

**Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows.**

"**I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."**

"Of course he will," Lily said confidently.

Teddy had heard from Neville himself how encouraging his father had been as a teacher, but understanding the circumstances fully made him even prouder. Neville really needed this triumph today, he realized now. No one had ever mentioned the potions class that had preceded this lesson. He wondered if Neville even remembered it. He hoped not.

**Neville's face went, if possible, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.**

"Thank Merlin," Rose muttered. She had had more than enough of Snape for that chapter.

"**Now, then," said Professor Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.**

James rubbed his hands together in anticipation, but Scorpius and Albus exchanged looks of unease.

"**Nothing to worry about," said Professor Lupin calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a boggart in there."**

**Most people seemed to feel that this **_**was **_**something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, **

Albus could understand that. If he were asked to go first, he would be terrified, too.

**and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.**

"**Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Professor Lupin. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. **_**This**_** one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice.**

"So this tradition was a complete accident?" Fred asked. There was nothing he liked more than accidental awesomeness.

"Sounds like it," said Teddy. He wondered what his father would have done if the boggart hadn't moved in. Would he still have earned his 'cool' teacher status?

"**So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what **_**is **_**a boggart?"**

**Hermione put up her hand.**

"There's a shocker," James said, and Rose kept reading over him.

"**It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."**

"**Couldn't have put it better myself," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione glowed. **

Teddy chuckled to himself. Hermione was won over. A prank on Peeves wouldn't be enough to earn her respect, but defending Neville and sounding, well, like he knew what he was doing, obviously had done the trick. When he was younger, usually he would glow at Hermione's praise. It was a bit funny to him to hear that she had felt the same way about his father.

"**So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.**

"**This means," said Professor Lupin, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"**

"Probably," James guessed. His dad was a Defense Against the Dark Arts legend, after all.

**Trying to answer a question with Hermione next to him, **

Albus and Scorpius both said the next line with Rose, smirking broadly when they were more or less spot-on.

**bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet with her hand in the air, **

Rose mock-scowled over at them, which, of course, only made them crack up.

**was very off-putting, but Harry had a go.**

"I know the feeling," Albus muttered, grinning.

"**Er — because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"**

'Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner," Fred announced. "Oi, James, got a piece of paper so we can write down the answer and look smart on the first day of school?"

"I don't need to cheat to look smart," James told him with mock haughtiness.

"That's what you think," Albus said under his breath and his brother flicked a piece of bark at him that pinged off his glasses.

"Nice, bull's eye," James grinned.

"How would you feel if you actually blinded me one of these times?" Albus asked exasperatedly, pulling his glasses off to examine the spot the projectile had made on the lens.

"I'll teach you how to put a repelling charm on your glasses," Teddy offered.

"Isn't there one already?" James asked slyly. "Or is that just a naturally force of repulsion I feel whenever I look at you."

"Come on, James," Teddy sighed impatiently as Albus glared over at his brother. "Can't you hold a truce for a couple days?"

"I think I've been containing myself rather well, lately," James said indignantly. "I haven't said a single thing about his nerdy gobstones club shirt, even though it's been practically begging me to make fun of him all day."

"You pushed him in the river."

"Well I had to do something with that pent up energy from being civil. And he pulled me in, too."

Teddy shook his head in frustration. "Better just keep reading, Rosie."

"**Precisely," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione put her hand down, looking a little disappointed. **

Rose smiled a little. She could understand the rush of getting an answer right, proving that there was more in your head than just gossip or sports stats. She couldn't help but feeling disappointed when she wasn't called on. But other people deserved a chance, too, she supposed.

"**It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening.**

"Gross, though," Lily said, scrunching up her face.

"I wonder whose…." James mused, thinking of the Marauders and wondering if those fears had belonged to either of his namesakes. Or maybe that mysterious Wormtail that no one seemed to like to talk about. The Coward, his father had called him.

"**The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is **_**laughter.**_** What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. **

Fred and James exchanged smirks. They were pros at this. It was precisely why they cracked jokes and turned things amusing; it stopped fear from gathering in the corners.

Scorpius, however, did not know how to turn anything he was afraid of into something he could laugh at. It was not how he had ever thought. His parents' philosophy for fears and conquering them was simply to be stronger, in mind or willpower or whatever. If you were afraid of the dark, be stronger than the dark. He couldn't translate fear into laughter.

"**We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please . . . **_**riddikulus**_**!"**

"_**Riddikulus**_**!" said the class together.**

Teddy nodded. This was, more or less, what his lesson had been like. It pleased him to know that he hadn't missed out on some great experience only his father could have provided. Although, it had really been Harry who had taught him how to fight a Boggart, and he had approached it slightly differently, starting off by helping Teddy get a feel for the spell by confusing the Boggart so he could slip in under its guard.

"**Good," said Professor Lupin. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."**

**The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.**

Albus spared a rueful smile for Neville's predicament. He knew how it all turned out, and that it probably was a great thing for Neville in the end, maybe even one of the seeds for the man he knew now, but he wouldn't like to be standing in his shoes at that moment.

"**Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"**

**Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.**

"Just a _bit _of a personal question after knowing someone for ten minutes," said Scorpius.

James shrugged. "The whole class is going to see it in a few minutes anyway. No way to get around it. It's kind of the fun of it, really. Seeing what everyone's afraid of, and for that class anyway, no one cares because their fear is just as irrational or ridiculous as yours."

Scorpius didn't think anyone could have a more ridiculous or irrational fear than the ones he was thinking of. And he was most certainly _not _allowing an entire class to see them. Maybe he'd by some Skiving Snack Boxes for that lesson.

"**Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Professor Lupin cheerfully.**

**Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."**

"Oh," Lily said a little sadly. She hadn't thought Snape was his _greatest _fear.

The others seemed surprised, too. In the stories, no one had mentioned that it was _Snape _in the old lady's clothing. They knew the outcome was a snarky teacher in a vulture-topped hat, but somehow the connection had eluded most of them. Lily, as had most of the others, had assumed Neville had been afraid of the Vulture, and in adding the bird to a ridiculous costume adorning an irritating teacher, it had made the bird ridiculous rather than terrifying. Nevile had not admitted that he'd been afraid of his teacher, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione had never mentioned what a bullying git Snape had been.

James felt a bit bad for thinking poorly of Neville for being so wimpy. He hadn't realized exactly what sort of affect Snape had had on him.

"Shouldn't that set off some red flags?" Rose asked. "If students are more terrified of their teacher than anything else in the world, shouldn't that make some people concerned about what sort of psychological damage is being done?"

"The general philosophy is that, in the real world, you have to deal with all kinds of people," Teddy sighed. "This is a bit extreme, and other factors are most likely involved concerning Snape, but teachers were – and still are – given a good amount of freedom in the classroom because, in the real world, you usually can't go and complain about other people's attitudes and have them removed. You've got to learn to deal."

"Still," Rose grumbled. "I suppose Neville turned out okay in the end, but some kids might not be as tough as him."

**Nearly everyone laughed. **

"That's rude," Lily scowled.

"Well, it is kind of ridiculous," James said fairly.

"But it's still his greatest fear. Sharks don't live anywhere near where we go swimming, but we didn't laugh at you when you wouldn't go swimming because you were afraid you'd get eaten," she said to James.

James shrugged. "It's different in class."

**Even Neville grinned apologetically.**

"See? He even knows it's ridiculous," James defended. "Like I said, it's different in class. You're _supposed _to laugh at other people's fears. That's where the power comes from. I expect people will laugh at my shark."

Albus thought that was more likely because James would turn it into something hilarious before anybody had time to register what exactly he was afraid of, and then they would be laughing with him, not at him. Albus on the other hand, for all his prowess in Defense Against the Dark Arts, was beginning to feel sure he would fail this class miserably. He didn't like to think about what he was afraid of, even to decide what it was, exactly.

**Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful.**

"**Professor Snape . . . hmmm . . . Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"**

"**Er — yes," said Neville nervously. "But — I don't want the boggart to turn into her either."**

Teddy cracked a smile. His grandmother had mentioned Neville's grandmother a few times (though never the blaringly important detail that she had raised Neville, for some reason). Apparently they'd worked together at some point, and Augusta Longbottom was rather… intense.

"**No, no, you misunderstand me," said Professor Lupin, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"**

**Neville looked startled, but said, "Well . . . always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. **

James was grinning so hard now, it looked like his face might split. It had just now hit him exactly what was going to happen. He'd known before, but not the full picture. Fred was bursting with silent laughter already. Even Rose was having trouble reading with a straight face. Snape more than deserved the humiliation after that morning.

**And a long dress . . . green, normally . . . and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."**

"**And a handbag?" prompted Professor Lupin.**

"**A big red one," said Neville.**

"**Right then," said Professor Lupin. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"**

"**Yes," said Neville uncertainly, plainly wondering what was coming next.**

"Only one of the best moments of your school career," James snickered.

"**When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Lupin. "And you will raise your wand — thus — and cry '**_**Riddikulus**_**' — and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."**

**There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.**

Rose had to break off, snorting with laugher already, just like the rest. They had seen pictures of Snape in commemorative editions of the _Prophet _and in some of the newer history books. The idea of him in a dress was ten times funnier than any telling of the story had ever been when the teacher had been anonymous.

"**If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Lupin. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical. . . ."**

**The room went quiet. Harry thought . . . What scared him most in the world?**

"Spiders," Hugo mumbled to himself, shuddering.

Without really meaning to, they were all asking themselves the same question.

James already knew his Boggart would turn into a giant white shark, rushing at him with its jaws stretched wide, and he had a plan that would work excellently.

Fred was almost certain his would be bats. He hated bats. The animal kind, though, not the kind he used for hitting bludgers. Roxanne thought it was an amusing irony that bats were his greatest fear because of the pun. But she never laughed at it.

Lily knew hers, when in a million years she was finally a third year, would be broken glass. It was a strange thing, but that was what turned her blood cold and made her stomach flip-flop, even worse than the nightmares about Voldemort. She was terrified of falling on shards of broken glass. Lily couldn't imagine what it would be like to see all those glittering pieces zooming up at you, beautiful and deadly all in one. Their jagged points and sparkly, needle-sharp dust was all the more dangerous because it lay so innocently.

_Colwns_, Rose thought immediately. She had hated clowns for as long as she could remember. Something about their too-broad smiles and lurid colors and that you couldn't really tell what their expression was under all the makeup. And maybe some of the movies or cartoons she'd seen at her Gran and Granddad Granger's had had something to do with it.

Teddy already knew what his fear was, and doubted it would change anytime soon as most children's boggarts change. When he was twelve, his boggart had been a changing corpse showing him all the people he was afraid of losing like he'd lost his parents. He still had nightmares about the first time he found a boggart. Ha hadn't known what it was, hadn't expected it when he'd pulled open a closet and his grandmother's body had toppled out, only to find on a second glance that it was really Harry, then Ginny, then James and Albus…. He had needed all of Harry's help to be able to beat it on his own. There just wasn't anything funny about that….

Albus was trying to convince himself that his boggart would turn into a snake. If Hugo's was spiders, surely his should be a snake. But something dark and terrifying, a feeling he didn't even want to acknowledge because it was so terrifying, was stirring at the back of his memory, and somehow he knew Snakes were not his deepest fear. He was starting to dread this lesson.

Scorpius didn't know what his greatest fear would be. Before today, he could have answered in a second: those little yellow-black menaces that could kill him with a single sting (that was how he preferred to think of them rather than simply bumble bees. If they thought being afraid of Snape was bad, he'd be laughed out of Hogwarts with a bumble bee boggart.). But then he'd seen… churning, tumbling hungry and fast, swallowing leaves and rocks and _people _up in its icy grip….

The second of introspection popped and Rose continued reading, much to the relief of most of the group. Dwelling on fears was not something any of them cared to do.

**His first thought was Lord Voldemort — a Voldemort returned to full strength. **

All eight of them paused to look at one another. How long was it before that happened? Two years? It was a terrifying thought, even to them. Maybe especially to them, who had seen the vast damages that would bring upon the world, upon their own families. Harry would be at the center of his own nightmare. And they would be reading about it.

**But before he had even started to plan a possible counterattack on a boggart-Voldemort, **

"I don't think there is one," Teddy said quietly.

**a horrible image came floating to the surface of his mind. . . .**

**A rotting, glistening hand, slithering back beneath a black cloak . . . a long, rattling breath from an unseen mouth . . . then a cold so penetrating it felt like drowning. . . .**

"The dementor," Hugo squeaked. He couldn't blame Harry one bit for being afraid of that.

Rose nodded. She hadn't realized what had happened on the train had stuck so firmly with her uncle. He seemed to possess a remarkable ability to let nightmarish encounters roll off his shoulders. But there was something hovering around the surface of that particular encounter that was charged with a different sort of fear than the others. Rose couldn't put her finger on exactly what felt different about it though.

"So… he fears fear," Teddy said thoughtfully. An amused expression flitted across his face. Harry would have something philosophical like that for a boggart.

"Are dementors the embodiment of fear?" Rose inquired curiously. "They seem more like… I don't know, misery to me, making you relive your worst nightmares."

"They represent a lot of things," Teddy nodded. "Fear, misery, hopelessness…. Anything they can use to debilitate their victims."

Once again, James felt a stir of unease. He didn't want his father to be afraid of those _things_. It was bad enough he couldn't fight off their effects, but if he was afraid of them, it meant they had beaten him. James knew it wasn't fair to expect any thirteen-year-old to be invulnerable, but it scared him a little to think that misery and fear could shake his father so badly. And he had no idea how anyone could fight that off….

Albus bit his lip, wondering if it was simply terror itself that he was so afraid of. But he knew, deep down, that the dark, looming fear buried inside of him was more than simple terror, could feel it like a half-remembered nightmare he dreaded bringing to the surface.

Lily shivered. "I hope Dad can think of something else he's afraid of. Do boggart-dementors make you feel the way real ones do?"

Teddy shrugged, hoping they didn't. Harry didn't need to pass out in front of his entire class, and Teddy didn't need to hear any more about that screaming voice.

**Harry shivered, then looked around, hoping no one had noticed. Many people had their eyes shut tight. Ron was muttering to himself, "Take its legs off." Harry was sure he knew what that was about. Ron's greatest fear was spiders.**

"Well after last year, how could it be anything else?" Hugo demanded, looking slightly pale just at the memory.

"**Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin.**

**Harry felt a lurch of fear. He wasn't ready. How could you make a dementor less frightening? But he didn't want to ask for more time; everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves.**

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Lily tried to encourage, but she sounded apprehensive.

Albus felt a strange sort of relief to know that his dad had been nervous and unprepared for this lesson, too. Not everyone was as confident as James after all.

"**Neville, we're going to back away," said Professor Lupin. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward. . . . Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot —"**

**They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.**

"This'll be good," James said excitedly, pushing his father's fear out of his mind for the time being. He had always liked to hear the story of Neville's great victory, and knowing it was at Snape's expense made it even better.

"**On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One —two — three — **_**now**_**!"**

**A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.**

**Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.**

This was so different from the version they were used to – the one in which Snape wasn't even named – that it was like hearing it for the first time. Rose allowed a bit of theatrics to creep into her voice, getting caught up in the flood of new details herself.

"_**R **_**— **_**r **_**— **_**riddikulus**_**!" squeaked Neville.**

**There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.**

None of them could help but snicker. Fred and James both collapsed with outright laughter.

"Serves the git right!" Fred gasped. "We should stock some product that does that in the shop. Imagine Filch in a purple ball gown!"

Teddy snorted. "Oh, _please _get your dad to help you make that happen and send me a photo," he begged as James and Fred howled.

Once they'd settled down enough for her to be heard, Rose kept reading, but she had to work very hard to keep her face straight.

**There was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"**

**Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; **

Lily made a face.

**its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising —**

"_**Riddikulus**_**!" cried Parvati.**

**A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.**

"Not bad," Fred judged. "Nothing on Snape in a dress" – he smirked – "but still not bad."

"Eh, I give her a seven. She could have been more creative," James put in.

"**Seamus!" roared Professor Lupin.**

**Seamus darted past Parvati.**

_**Crack**_**! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floorlength black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face — a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on Harry's head stand on end — **

James grimaced. He wasn't too keen on banshees either, but he'd take them over man-eating sharks any day.

"_**Riddikulus**_**!" shouted Seamus.**

**The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.**

"Nice," Fred grinned. "Eight point five, wouldn't you say?"

"Nine," James said thoughtfully. "I reckon seeing it would make it even better."

_**Crack**_**! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then — **_**crack**_**! — became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before — **_**crack**_**! — becoming a single, bloody eyeball.**

"Eww!" Lily said distastefully.

"**It's confused!" shouted Lupin. "We're getting there! Dean!"**

**Dean hurried forward.**

_**Crack**_**! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab.**

"He's an artist, isn't he?" Lily remembered. "No wonder that's what scares him."

She flexed her wrist, looking at her own hand, shuddering as she imagined it creeping along on its own.

"_**Riddikulus**_**!" yelled Dean.**

**There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.**

"Clever," Fred said approvingly.

"Nine for creativity," James agreed.

"**Excellent! Ron, you next!"**

**Ron leapt forward.**

_**Crack**_**!**

**Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly.**

"See?" Hugo said triumphantly, looking at the rest. "You can scoff, but _no sane person _wouldn't be afraid of that thing."

"Who ever said we were sane?" Fred asked, sounding offended.

**For a moment, Harry thought Ron had frozen. **

"Never," Hugo muttered under his breath.

**Then —**

"_**Riddikulus**_**!" bellowed Ron, and the spider's legs vanished; it rolled over and over; **

Hugo, Fred and James cheered Ron on and Rose allowed a proud smile to cross her lips as she kept reading.

**Lavender Brown squealed and ran out of its way and it came to a halt at Harry's feet. He raised his wand, ready, **

They all quieted, keen to know how Harry was planning on managing his boggart. James, Albus, and Teddy in particular were looking at the book with more intense anticipation than the rest.

**but —**

"**Here!" shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward. **

"What's he doing?" James asked, confused. Here again was another omission from the usual story.

Teddy shrugged, just as confused as the rest.

_**Crack**_**!**

**The legless spider had vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "**_**Riddikulus**_**!" almost lazily.**

"He's just that cool," Fred grinned.

Teddy smiled vaguely, but his mind was elsewhere. This he had known. He had asked Harry if he knew what his parents' boggarts were, and Harry had told him his father's had been the full moon. He had spent a lot of time pondering this when he was younger, wondering what it felt like to turn into a werewolf. It must have been an extremely terrible thing for his father to fear the full moon so deeply. And it had been a monthly nightmare, for him.

"But what…." Lily frowned.

Albus caught her eye and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed, realizing the obvious.

"What?" Scoprius asked, not expecting an answer. He was not disappointed.

Instead, Albus and Rose exchanged meaningful looks. Neither one of them had known this fact about Teddy's father. They, unlike Teddy, hadn't given very much thought to what it was like to become a werewolf each month.

"But what's he doing? Isn't he going to give Dad a go?" James persisted, a bit indignantly.

Rose shrugged and kept reading.

_**Crack**_**!**

"**Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" said Lupin as the boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. **_**Crack**_**! Snape was back. **

"Round two," Fred beamed.

**This time Neville charged forward looking determined.**

"_**Riddikulus**_**!" he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great "Ha!" of laughter, and the boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.**

They all burst into cheers and applause. It was more than just Neville triumphing over Snape at last, it was the first signs of the professor they knew now, the brave, confident person they all looked up to. It was a triumph as much for that person over his own self as it was for Neville over Snape.

Something connected as Teddy realized it was his father who had helped to bring out this side in Neville. It may not have lasted much longer than this class for the moment, but it had shown Neville what was inside of him. His father had helped change the awkward, low-self-esteemed boy who kept losing his toad into someone who could handle anything. And that man had helped Teddy as much as he could to become the person Teddy was now. He had done the same for countless other students. It was a circle.

Teddy had known this before. Neville had told him, Harry had told him, McGonagall had even brought up something along those lines once. But it was different to _see _it instead of simply being told. It made it real and sent pride spreading like a warm glow through his limbs.

"**Excellent!" cried Professor Lupin as the class broke into applause. "Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone. . . . Let me see . . . five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart — ten for Neville because he did it twice . . . and five each to Hermione and Harry."**

"**But I didn't do anything," said Harry.**

Rose didn't stop for interruptions, but the rest all looked at one another, still wondering about that. It didn't seem like something Remus would do, actively stop Harry from practicing the spell. What were the reasons behind it?

Teddy was particularly interested to understand this turn of events, not only to better understand his father's character, but to understand the relationship he and Harry had had. For all his probing, Teddy could never quite pin down how Harry had ended up as his godfather. It was still confusing and difficult to compare his own father with the man who had acted as his father for all of his memory, to understand what _they _had been to each other.

"**You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry," Lupin said lightly. **

"So that was why he called on Harry instead of Mum," Rose murmured, furrowing her eyebrows. Had he intended to prevent Harry from facing the boggart from the start?

"**Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me . . . to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."**

"Aw, he stuck homework on them at the end of class?" Fred said in disappointment.

Teddy smiled. "Lancing does that, too."

"And he _did _say 'kindly'," Lily pointed out in defense.

**Talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. Harry, however, wasn't feeling cheerful. **

Teddy frowned. "No, I suppose he wouldn't be," he sighed.

**Professor Lupin had deliberately stopped him from tackling the boggart. Why? Was it because he'd seen Harry collapse on the train, and thought he wasn't up to much?**

James scowled. That was what happened when you started passing out all over the place. People got it into their heads that you were a pansy and treated you like you couldn't do anything.

**Had he thought Harry would pass out again?**

"Well, if he'd had his chance with the boggart, he probably would have," Teddy pointed out.

"Do you think your dad thought Harry was 'delicate', to use Madam Pomfrey's words?" Rose asked.

Teddy shrugged. "Who knows? If he did, though, I'm sure Harry proved him wrong soon enough." He thought about the patronus lessons Harry would be receiving from his father at some point in the book and grinned a little. "He definitely proved him wrong if that was the case, but… I don't know. If you think about it, Dad had good reason not to let Harry's worst fear materialize in a classroom full of students. If his worst memory was bad enough to make him pass out, his worst fear couldn't be as simple as the rest, could it?"

"I suppose not," Albus conceded. "But he should explain that to Dad, because I don't think he sees it that way."

Teddy grimaced a little. No, Harry seemed to think Professor Lupin had a poor opinion of his skills. He knew how that would bother his godfather. It would bother most thirteen-year-old boys.

**But no one else seemed to have noticed anything.**

"**Did you see me take that banshee?" shouted Seamus.**

"**And the hand!" said Dean, waving his own around.**

"**And Snape in that hat!"**

Fred gave another appreciative chuckle.

"**And my mummy!"**

"**I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls?" said Lavender thoughtfully.**

Teddy snorted and a few of the others snickered. Scorpius rolled his eyes, not even bothering to ask. Albus clapped him on the shoulder, smirking.

"**That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?" said Ron excitedly as they made their way back to the classroom to get their bags.**

"Not much competition," Teddy mumbled, but he seemed pleased all the same. Even after reading the chapter, he couldn't quite understand the transformation that had taken place. His father had turned into someone who was respected and who's opinion was valued by his students in the course of one lesson. He wondered how much that had meant to him, to be judged for who he was instead of _what _he was, and to find that he was valued. From what Teddy had read, not many werewolves could find that.

"**He seems like a very good teacher," said Hermione approvingly.**

"Then we know he must be the best," Lily said happily. "If Hermione says so."

"**But I wish I could have had a turn with the boggart —"**

"Oh yeah, she didn't, did she?" Hugo realized suddenly. "I wonder why Teddy's dad didn't let her have a go either."

"She might just have gotten skipped over when he was running interference," Rose said reasonably. She was intensely curious to know what her mother's boggart had been, though. What was it that she had feared? What could she have possibly feared?

"**What would it have been for you?" said Ron, sniggering. "A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?"**

The boys laughed and Rose rolled her eyes as she shut the book.

"So, what do you think of the lesson now, Scorp?" she asked, turning to her friend.

Scorpius shrugged. He still wasn't keen on revealing his own stupid fears in front of the whole class, but he had to admit, it did seem like a good lesson.

Rose seemed to know what he was thinking. "_Everyone _has to face their fears. Didn't you hear how exhilarated everyone was at the end? No one got made fun of. They _encouraged _each other."

"Yeah, I guess," Scorpius relented, smiling. "And your dad does seem like a good teacher," he added to Teddy. "How many people could bring a class together like that? It was smart. Most teachers wouldn't go near something like that for fear of causing irreversible public humiliation. Plus he helped Neville get back at Snape." Scorpius grinned wickedly.

Teddy laughed. "Yeah, if nothing else, Dad was good for that."

**A/N: All done! Meh, I feel like there were things I wanted to add, but I really need to get this posted tonight. I'm not sure if I'm overly happy with how it all turned out. Thanks for reading, though, and please please leave a review! :D Thanks! Also, if you're curious about how Albus, Rose, and Scorpius's boggart lesson went and you haven't yet checked out my (Morning Lilies') story snapshots, it's the second chapter. **


	8. Flight of the Fat Lady

**Disclaimer: Give me a 'D'! Give me an 'I'! Give me an 'S'! Give me a 'claim'! What does that spell? I'll give you a hint: it's what we do with the HP world. **

**A/N: Hey! This time we're back for real! Well, I suppose I'm back. Bookworm hasn't looked this over yet. Anyway, like I said, I'm really REALLY sorry this took so long. It took a ridiculously long time, even while I was working on it. I kept getting sidetracked into anecdotes and would only get through like a page at a time. But anyway, thank you all so much for understanding and sticking with me! I really hope this is worth it. **

**Oh, and I think I should warn you that there is some discussion of alcohol and such in this chapter. Didn't expect it, but there it was. Nothing bad, though. **

Chapter Eight

Flight of the Fat Lady

"It's my turn," Lily announced as Rose set the book down. But before she could pick it up, James grabbed it.

"James," she said warningly, narrowing her eyes at her older brother. "I've only got to read one chapter!"

"Oh, you wanted this?" James asked, tossing the book from hand to hand. "You'll have to jump for it," he told her wickedly, nimbly rolling out of the way as Lily lunged at him and standing up to hold the book high above her head.

Lily stared up at the captured book for a moment before promptly dropping back to the ground in front of her brother and staring up at him, silent. The others watched with a range of impatience and amusement. James's smirk slipped a little at this less-than-expected reaction. His arm dropped a little.

"What're you –"

In a flash, Lily had sprung up, leaping like a fish from water, and just managed to snatch the book from James's unsuspecting fingers. He gaped at her while several of the others snickered.

"Thank you, brother dear," she said sweetly, rising on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek ("Argh! Lily!") and lightly folded herself back to their blanket, her skirt swirling around her.

James, still staring at her as if he didn't recognize her, sat down, too. "I think you're getting too old for me to pick on," he told her.

"Ahem," Albus said loudly. James ignored him.

Lily smiled. "I appreciate the recognition," she said formally, as she had heard her aunt Hermione begin many a speech. "Even if it is only to try to put my guard down."

"See, this is why _you _are going to be in Slytherin," James told her earnestly.

"If you're done being immature," Rose interrupted, looking pointedly at James.

"Never," James vowed solemnly.

Smirking, but getting the point, Lily flipped open to the next chapter.

**Chapter Eight**

**Flight of the Fat Lady**

They exchanged curious looks.

"Now that's something I'd pay to see," said Fred, envisioning great pterodactyl wings sprouting out of the back of the Fat Lady's pink silk dress. Or maybe a giant cannon launching her across the portraits lining the corridor.

"I think they mean she ran away," Rose said, seeing the look on her cousin's face.

"I'm going to hold out for wings," Fred said stubbornly. Then an idea lit his face and Rose got worried. "What if someone, er, _fixed _her portrait for her? Do you think some painted wings –"

"No," Rose said at once.

"But do you think it'd work if –"

"No."

"Come on, Rose, it's just hypothetical."

"Hypothetically, no."

"Do you think –"

"NO!"

"I knew it all along!" James cried, pointing dramatically at her.

"So why would the Fat Lady run away?" Albus said loudly, effectively averting Rose's attention.

"Maybe she eloped with one of those drunk monks," Fred snickered.

"Maybe your dad and Uncle Fred finally scared her away," Rose suggested.

"Now _there's _an idea," Fred said thoughtfully. "We should hang out around you more, Rosie. Who needs to brainstorm with you around?"

He ducked automatically as Rose sent a dirt clod at his head.

Lily cleared her throat pointedly, giving them the 'McGonagall' stare, which she'd picked up from James's imitations, until they quieted. Then she began to read.

**In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become most people's favorite class. Only Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins had anything bad to say about Professor Lupin.**

"Of course he did," Scorpius muttered, scowling, but the others made no reaction other than to look bored with the news.

"**Look at the state of his robes," Malfoy would say in a loud whisper as Professor Lupin passed. "He dresses like our old house-elf."**

"And who provided the _uniform _for that elf?" Rose said furiously under her breath.

Teddy kept a calm expression, but inside he couldn't help but scowl a little. It was people like Malfoy and all the purebloods that stopped his father from getting a _job _to _afford_ some decent clothes.

"Clothes have nothing to do with a person _inside,_" Lily said primly, smoothing her skirt, which was covered in large, colorful flowers today, real gossamer butterflies and dragonflies fluttering an inch or so away from the fabric, flitting from flower to flower in a cloud of shimmery wings. (It was another gift from Luna.)

**But no one else cared that Professor Lupin's robes were patched and frayed. **

"I should think not. The student body couldn't possibly be that shallow," said Rose.

**His next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblinlike creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed: in the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who had gotten lost. **

"Does Hogwarts have any?" Hugo asked nervously.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Hue. Just don't get lost down a dark corridor and you _should _be fine," James told him with a wicked grin.

Hugo gulped.

"He's lying," Rose assured her little brother, rolling her eyes at James.

"Am not," James said indignantly.

"Half-lying," Teddy corrected and everyone looked at him.

"You don't mean to tell us there're really Red Caps in the castle?" Albus asked, voice slightly higher than normal.

"Not anymore," Teddy explained. "But back right after the war it was a real problem. The teachers had to keep up some pretty tight defenses to keep them at bay. I've heard there're still a few lurking in the forest, but for the most part the teachers drove them out."

"Never, ever going into the forest," Albus shuddered. Hugo nodded fervently.

**From Red Caps they moved on to kappas, creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.**

"There aren't any of _those _around here, though, right?" Scorpius asked, trying not to sound scared.

"No, they're mostly out east," Teddy assured him, glancing curiously at the slight pallor Scorpius had taken on.

**Harry only wished he was as happy with some of his other classes. Worst of all was Potions. **

"No surprises there," James muttered.

**Snape was in a particularly vindictive mood these days, and no one was in any doubt why. The story of the boggart assuming Snape's shape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother's clothes, had traveled through the school like wildfire. **

"Excellent," Fred said approvingly. "Makes it even better."

**Snape didn't seem to find it funny.**

"I can't imagine why not," said Fred, sounding baffled.

**His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin's name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever.**

"It's not Dad's fault," Teddy said indignantly. "And it's not really Neville's fault either. Snape's the one who terrified the poor kid."

Teddy registered the strangeness in thinking of Neville as a 'poor kid'.

"If he had the emotional capacity to recognize that this was merely a reaction to his own actions, he would not have performed them in the first place," Rose said, the acidity in her voice underlined by her slip into lawyer-speak. If Rose was particularly articulate, you knew you were in trouble.

**Harry was also growing to dread the hours he spent in Professor Trelawney's stifling tower room, **

"Why?" Fred asked, looking slightly offended. "Trelawney's great! You couldn't ever get bored in _that _class."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that," said James, looking at Fred with some awe.

**deciphering lopsided shapes and symbols, trying to ignore the way Professor Trelawney's enormous eyes filled with tears every time she looked at him. **

"That's why," Albus said grimacing. "You try liking someone who's utterly convinced you're on the edge of being killed."

Considering all his father had gone through, that boost of 'confidence' couldn't have been too helpful. It wasn't exactly reassuring to them _now_.

**He couldn't like Professor Trelawney, even though she was treated with respect bordering on reverence by many of the class. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown had taken to haunting Professor Trelawney's tower room at lunchtimes, and always returned with annoyingly superior looks on their faces, as though they knew things the others didn't. They had also started using hushed voices whenever they spoke to Harry, as though he were on his deathbed.**

Rose made a face. "That's ridiculous. It's only starting rumors about people," she sniffed. "You can't predict the future in a load of soggy tealeaves or in a crystal ball. But the sad thing is I could say James is going to marry a Slytherin –"

"Oi! Leave me out of it, thank you very much!"

" – and people would think there's some truth in it if I said I saw it in a crystal ball."

"Nope. No one would believe that, ever," James said stubbornly, crossing his arms. "The only Slytherin I can stand is Scorpius and I'm not marrying him. I don't settle."

"I dunno, with all the attention you give the lovely Miss Bennit –" Fred began, snickering.

James rammed an elbow into his side. "If you ever suggest something like that about the _troll_ again, I'll be forced to puke all over your shoes."

"Me thinks the gentleman doth protest too much," Teddy said slyly.

Scorpius gave him a weird look. "Is he having a stroke or something?"

Teddy laughed. "It's a Shakespeare quote, a famous Muggle play write. Hermione's got a collection of all his works from her parents."

"He was cracked, Shakespeare was," James grumbled. "He got people thinking that when someone _really _doesn't like something, you should assume they're actually in love with it. I mean, what kind of logic is that?"

"It worked for Ron and Hermione," Teddy pointed out. " 'Whatever house I'm in I hope she's not in it'."

"Don't think I can't hit your shoes too, if you keep this up," James warned. "Lily, keep reading before they try to hook me up with Moaning Myrtle."

"You _do _have to ask her out on a date," Fred reminded him, waggling his eyebrows.

"Remind me never to let you near my dating life," said James, giving him a shove.

"When you actually get one, you mean?" Teddy put in.

"Shut up!"

**Nobody really liked Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action-packed first class, had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence. **

"Oh," Lily said sadly. But anger and indignation was quick to follow, flaming in her brown eyes. "Malfoy's faking! They're ruining all of Hagrid's classes just because Malfoy's faking! I hope someone gets him caught pretending to be hurt in front of the whole school!"

Grinding her teeth, Lily went back to reading.

**They were now spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after flobberworms, **

Fred and James groaned.

"That ought to be classified as a form of torture," Fred declared.

"No sharp fangs," James lamented.

"No deadly talons," Fred added.

"No fire-breathing potential."

"No blood-thirsty instincts."

"No fun at all!" they finished together.

"Hagrid'll have students dying of boredom if he's not careful," warned Fred.

**which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence.**

"I think we've established that," James commented.

"**Why would anyone **_**bother **_**looking after them?" said Ron, after yet another hour of poking shredded lettuce down the flobberworms' slimy throats.**

"Ew," Lily said, wrinkling her nose.

"Uncle Ron's got a point," Fred nodded.

"It does seem like a waste of time," Rose conceded.

Fred stared at her in shock. "Rose agreeing with me that a lesson is a waste of time. These books are flipping the universe inside-out."

He shook his head.

Lily kept reading.

**At the start of October, however, Harry had something else to occupy him, something so enjoyable it more than made up for his unsatisfactory classes. The Quidditch season was approaching, **

Fred and James cheered exuberantly.

"It's about _time _we got talking about Quidditch again," said James.

"You say that every time there's a Quidditch chapter," Rose pointed out, but she, too, couldn't help but perk up a little. It was always fascinating, from a literary aspect for her, to hear a Quidditch game narrated through her uncle's perceptions rather than by a commentator or a spectator, or simply watching or playing herself. Besides, Quidditch in any form was entertaining.

**and Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor team, called a meeting one Thursday evening to discuss tactics for the new season.**

**There were seven people on a Quidditch team: **

"Recap," James sighed impatiently. "Why can't Muggles just start reading books from the beginning? It's not our problem if they pick up the story halfway through and expect to understand what's going on."

"The books came out years apart," Rose pointed out. "They don't have Quidditch in their world, it'd be easy to forget the rules in between."

Getting over the fact that anybody could _forget _about Quidditch, James waved a hand. "Then they can go back and look up the rules in the first book. Why waste our time?"

"You know we'd be done with the recap if you'd just shut up," Lily pointed out sweetly.

**three Chasers, whose job it was to score goals by putting the Quaffle (a red, soccer-sized ball) through one of the fifty-foot-high hoops at each end of the field; two Beaters, **

Fred pumped his fist here.

**who were equipped with heavy bats to repel the Bludgers (two heavy black balls that zoomed around trying to attack the players); a Keeper, who defended the goal posts, and the Seeker, who had the hardest job of all, that of catching the Golden Snitch, a tiny, winged, walnut-sized ball, whose capture ended the game and earned the Seeker's team an extra one hundred and fifty points.**

"Making all other positions pretty much obsolete," Scorpius pointed out to the uproar of all of the others (besides Albus, of course). It took a moment or two to get the group under control so that Lily could keep reading.

**Oliver Wood was a burly seventeen-year-old, now in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. **

"Oh," James said, sounding disappointed. "This is the last book he'll be in."

He rather liked hearing about Wood and his Quidditch strategies.

"I'll see if Dad can talk him into coming round the shop to talk strategy with us," Fred promised, grinning. It was not likely going to be hard to get Oliver Wood to discuss Quidditch.

**There was a quiet sort of desperation in his voice as he addressed his six fellow team members in the chilly locker rooms on the edge of the darkening Quidditch field.**

"**This is our last chance — **_**my **_**last chance — to win the Quidditch Cup," he told them, striding up and down in front of them.**

"Do they win it this year?" Scorpius asked curiously. It would be horribly unfair if Wood never won. They had an amazing team by the sounds of it, just really rotten luck.

"You know," Rose said thoughtfully, "I don't actually know. I know Dad won the cup a couple of times, but he's not on the team yet."

They all turned to look at the Potters or Teddy.

Teddy frowned. "Harry's told me about winning the cup, but he was older then. I don't know about his third year."

"He's got a picture of the team from that year," Albus piped up. "It's on top of the wardrobe with some of Mum's Hollyhead stuff and – I think – the old broomstick servicing kit Hermione gave him. They all look pretty happy in it. The photo, I mean. But I don't remember if there was cup in it or not."

"How can you not remember such an important detail?" James demanded, leaning forward to smack his brother across the back of the head.

"Do you?" Albus asked, dodging the blow.

James looked slightly sheepish. This was one Quidditch fact that he, in fact, did not know for certain. He had, like all the others, heard Ron tell the story of his victory during one of his later years of school, and knew that his father had indeed captained his team to the cup another year, but he did not know if Oliver Wood's team had ever won. It seemed like fate was just not on their side.

"I know," Lily announced and everybody turned to her in surprise.

"You do?" James asked, eyeing her skeptically.

"Of course," Lily told him, rolling her eyes. "I saw that picture just a few days ago. Auntie Angelina has it, too, you know."

"She does?" Fred asked. It was news to him.

"It's not out," Lily explained. "It's in a box behind the couch and me and Roxy found it and she told us all about that year's Quidditch season."

"Well?" James prompted impatiently. "Did they win or not?"

Lily's lips pressed closed and she raised the book up to keep reading.

"Lily!" half the group exclaimed.

"I'm not telling," Lily told them firmly from behind the book. "If you want to know, you'll just have to listen."

"She doesn't know," Albus said, rolling his eyes.

"Do so, Al_bus_," Lily protested from out of sight.

"She just wants to look impressive," James told the others.

"I _know_," Lily insisted, finally lowering the book to glare at her brothers.

"So tell us," Albus challenged.

"Nope, it'll ruin it."

"I bet you dish-washing for a week that you don't know," said James.

"You'll be washing dishes for a week then."

"So tell us. Do they win or not?"

"Shake first."

Lily and James shook hands. Then Lily said, "I'm not telling you _now _though. It'll _ruin _it."

"Then you forfeit," James told her, crossing his arms.

They both turned to Teddy, who had seen it coming to this and was ready with a solution.

"Here, Lil," he said, handing her a scrap of parchment and a quill he'd conjured. "Write down what you think and we'll check it later and see who wins."

"That's not fair. She could guess and get it right! She's got a fifty-fifty chance," James grumbled.

"You're the one that made the bet," Albus reminded him as Lily started scribbling.

"You'll have to write down more than just 'win' or 'loose'," Teddy told her.

Lily paused only long enough to roll her eyes in a way she had picked up from her older cousins. Teddy sighed inwardly. They grew up so fast.

It took Lily nearly a minute to finish writing her answer, but it took longer than that to convince her to give it to Teddy for safekeeping.

"No peeking," she told him sternly.

Lily wanted, for once, to be the one that knew something none of the others did. She was not giving up that satisfaction so easily. Then she returned to reading.

"**I'll be leaving at the end of this year. I'll never get another shot at it.**

"**Gryffindor hasn't won for seven years now. Okay, so we've had the worst luck in the world **

"You can say that again," Albus muttered.

**Okay, so we've had the worst luck in the world — **

"Lily!"

"What? You told me to."

"You are so nine years old."

"I'm _ten _thank you very much. And you're only eleven still, so you can't talk."

"Just keep reading."

**injuries — then the tournament getting called off last year. . . ." Wood swallowed, as though the memory still brought a lump to his throat. "But we also know we've got the **_**best **_**— **_**ruddy **_**— **_**team **_**— **_**in **_**— **_**the **_**— **_**school,**_**" he said, punching a fist into his other hand, the old manic glint back in his eye**.

"So – true," James nodded, imitating Wood.

"**We've got three **_**superb **_**Chasers."**

**Wood pointed at Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell.**

Several gave an appreciative cheer for their aunt/mother

"**We've got two **_**unbeatable **_**Beaters."**

"I dunno, I bet Dom and I could give them a run for their money," Fred said thoughtfully.

James snorted. "You think you could beat the practically-telepathic Weasley Twins?"

Fred shrugged. "Maybe not, but I still wish we could try." He kept his eyes on the grass he was twisting between his fingers.

"**Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us," said Fred and George Weasley together, pretending to blush.**

Most everybody laughed a little at this.

"**And we've got a Seeker who has **_**never failed to win us a match**_**!" Wood rumbled, glaring at Harry with a kind of furious pride. **

"That is a pretty impressive record," Scorpius admitted.

"Unless you count the game at the end of Dad's first year when he was lying unconscious in the hospital wing. He kind of lost that one for them," James pointed out.

"They can't blame him for that," Albus defended. "Save the world or win a Quidditch match? Which would you rather he'd done?"

"Just saying," James said, raising his hands.

"**And me," he added as an afterthought.**

"**We think you're very good too, Oliver," said George.**

"**Spanking good Keeper," said Fred.**

There were some grins exchanged again.

"**The point is," Wood went on, resuming his pacing, "the Quidditch Cup should have had our name on it these last two years. Ever since Harry joined the team, I've thought the thing was in the bag. But we haven't got it, and this year's the last chance we'll get to finally see our name on the thing. . . ."**

**Wood spoke so dejectedly that even Fred and George looked sy – sime-path – **

"Sympathetic," Teddy said, leaning over to read over Lily's shoulder.

"Yes, sympathetic," Lily agreed, sounding out the word carefully.

"That's why we've only let you read one chapter," James hissed to her.

"Oh, leave her alone," Teddy told James. "She's doing good. I'd hate to hear _you _read all these long words when you were ten."

"Couldn't hear you, Teddy. My ears are slowly dying," James complained.

Lily stuck her tongue out at him and kept reading, taking care to read as smoothly as she could.

"**Oliver, this year's our year," said Fred.**

"**We'll do it, Oliver!" said Angelina.**

"**Definitely," said Harry.**

**Full of determination, the team started training sessions, three evenings a week. The weather was getting colder and wetter, the nights darker, but no amount of mud, wind, or rain could tarnish Harry's wonderful vision of finally winning the huge, silver Quidditch Cup.**

"Funny how it does that," Rose mused. "The Quidditch cup. It motivates teenagers to spend hours in freezing, soaking weather, unifies them into a solid unit, draws out determination like nothing else."

"Of course it does," James said, rolling his eyes. "It's the _Quidditch cup_!"

"It's just a sliver cup that you don't even get to keep yourself," Rose pointed out.

"But everyone _knows _you won it," James insisted.

"I just think it's interesting what rights to a silver cup for a year will bring out in people."

"You're going to be just as bad as the rest of us, once you get on the team," Albus told her.

"I never said I wouldn't be."

"Ha! Proof that you want to try out!" James exclaimed triumphantly.

"Well… did you really think I wouldn't?" Rose asked him, smiling slightly.

"Not for a second, whatever you said."

**Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room one evening after training, cold and stiff but pleased with the way practice had gone, to find the room buzzing excitedly.**

"**What's happened?" he asked Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in two of the best chairs by the fireside and completing some star charts for Astronomy.**

"**First Hogsmeade weekend," said Ron, pointing at a notice that had appeared on the battered old bull-e-tin board. **

James shot Lily a pointed look, which she ignored, reading louder than before to cover the faint blush creeping up her cheeks.

"**End of October. Halloween."**

"**Excellent," said Fred, who had followed Harry through the portrait hole. "I need to visit Zonko's. I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets."**

"Not so excellent for Dad. He'll be stuck at school," Albus said glumly.

**Harry threw himself into a chair beside Ron, his high spirits ebbing away. Hermione seemed to read his mind.**

"She's good at that, isn't she?" Hugo murmured. His mother always seemed to know what he was thinking, just from looking at his face. And Rose was developing the skill, too, which meant he had to lock himself in his room if he wanted to keep his thoughts in his own head.

"**Harry, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time," she said. "They're bound to catch Black soon. He's been sighted once already."**

"**Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade," said Ron. "Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry. The next one might not be for ages —"**

"Does anybody else visualize a miniature angel-Mum and devil-Dad sitting on Harry's shoulders?" Rose asked with amusement.

Hugo, Albus, Lily, and Teddy all laughed, but Scorpius looked at her as though she'd gone mad.

"Muggle cartoon thing," she explained quickly.

"_**Ron**_**!" said Hermione. "Harry's supposed to stay **_**in school **_**—"**

"But that's hardly fair!" James burst out unable to stand it any longer. "According to their 'story' Sirius killed a whole bunch of people right in the middle of the street. If they think he's going to show up in Hogsmeade, they shouldn't let _anyone _go, not just Dad. If they think the other students will be safe enough to go, they might as well let Dad go, too."

"You know, that's a fair point," Teddy agreed, sounding a little surprised.

"Of course it is," James said, looking at Teddy indignantly.

"Too bad you're not in 1993 to make it," Teddy sighed.

"**He can't be the only third year left behind," said Ron. "Ask McGonagall, go on, Harry —"**

"**Yeah, I think I will," said Harry, making up his mind.**

"Can't hurt to ask, but you know she'll say no," Albus said dejectedly.

"Aren't you the optimist," Scorpius said. He was starting to realize just how much Albus _was _like his father sometimes, in more than just looks.

"Just being realistic," Albus shrugged.

**Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but at that moment Crookshanks leapt lightly onto her lap. A large, dead spider was dangling from his mouth.**

Hugo shuddered. "You know, I'm kind of glad I don't remember that thing."

"He wasn't so bad," Rose defended. "I never saw him eat a spider."

"**Does he have to eat that in front of us?" said Ron, scowling.**

"**Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" said Hermione.**

"No, he coerced the spider population of Hogwarts to turn on their own and offer up sacrifices to him and his mightiness," Fred whispered. "It's the only way Mrs. Norris stays alive."

**Crookshanks slowly chewed up the spider, his yellow eyes fixed insolently on Ron.**

"Think of it this way," Rose said to Hugo, who was grimacing. "One less spider in the world to lay thousands of eggs. One less spider for Dad to worry about, and maybe a million less for you to worry about."

"**Just keep him over there, that's all," said Ron irritably, turning back to his star chart. "I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag."**

**Harry yawned. He really wanted to go to bed, but he still had his own star chart to complete. He pulled his bag toward him, took out parchment, ink, and quill, and started work.**

"**You can copy mine, if you like," said Ron, labeling his last star with a flourish and shoving the chart toward Harry.**

"You know, that's the drawback about not sharing a common room," Albus said to Scorpius. "I've got no one to copy off but Rose and she won't let me."

Scorpius nodded in fervent agreement.

Rose, who disapproved of copying, breathed sharply out through her nose.

**Hermione, who disapproved of copying, pursed her lips but didn't say anything. **

Albus and Scorpius exchanged smirks.

**Crookshanks was still staring unblinkingly at Ron, flicking the end of his bushy tail. Then, without warning, he pounced.**

"**OY!" Ron roared, seizing his bag as Crookshanks sank four sets of claws deep inside it and began tearing ferociously. **

"Mad thing," Hugo muttered.

"How did he even know Scabbers was in there?" James asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"He heard Ron say it," Lily said, scowling a little. That poor old rat would get no peace with that monster around.

"I think it's more likely that he smelled Scabbers," Teddy suggested, biting his lip to keep from smiling.

Lily looked back down at the book.

"**GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!"**

Rose looked a little indignant. Crookshanks was anything but stupid.

**Ron tried to pull the bag away from Crookshanks, but Crookshanks clung on, spitting and slashing.**

"**Ron, don't hurt him!" squealed Hermione; the whole common room was watching; Ron whirled the bag around, Crookshanks still clinging to it, and Scabbers came flying out of the top —**

"Oh, no," Lily gasped, closing her eyes for a moment before hurriedly reading on.

"**CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron yelled as Crookshanks freed himself from the remnants of the bag, sprang over the table, and chased after the terrified Scabbers.**

**George Weasley made a lunge for Crookshanks but missed; Scabbers streaked through twenty pairs of legs and shot beneath an old chest of drawers. Crookshanks skidded to a halt, crouched low on his bandy legs, and started making furious swipes beneath it with his front paw.**

"Determined," James observed, caught up in the action.

**Ron and Hermione hurried over; Hermione grabbed Crookshanks around the middle and heaved him away; Ron threw himself onto his stomach and, with great difficulty, pulled Scabbers out by the tail.**

"At least he didn't get eaten," Hugo sighed.

"Barely," Lily sniffed.

"That's probably why they don't want you to bring rats to school as pets," Rose couldn't help but put in. She certainly didn't want to hear about the old rat getting eaten and cringed at the thought of how her parents would react to it.

"But no other cat is going after Scabbers like Crookshanks is," Lily pointed out. "He's been in the castle for two years and no other cat's tried to eat him before!"

Rose shrugged, conceding the point.

"**Look at him!" he said furiously to Hermione, dangling Scabbers in front of her. "He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!"**

"**Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" said Hermione, her voice shaking. "All cats chase rats, Ron!"**

"**There's something funny about that animal!" said Ron, who was trying to persuade a frantically wiggling Scabbers back into his pocket. "It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!"**

Lily cast Teddy a pointed look. He shrugged, half-grinning.

"**Oh, what rubbish," said Hermione impatiently. "Crookshanks could **_**smell **_**him, Ron, how else d'you think —"**

Teddy poked Lily in the back, smirking. She ignored him.

"**That cat's got it in for Scabbers!" said Ron, ignoring the people around him, who were starting to giggle. "And Scabbers was here first, **_**and **_**he's ill!"**

**Ron marched through the common room and out of sight up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.**

"Well, there you have it," James said, clapping his hands together. "We've been due for a good row."

"And I get the feeling this one's not over," Teddy said.

"What do you mean?" Hugo asked. "Mum and Dad fight like that all the time, but it never gets worse than that."

"Because now their mature enough for one of them to apologize," Teddy told him. "But in the book, they're thirteen, and nothing breeds stubbornness like thirteen."

"I resent your slights on the age of thirteen," James said mock-indignantly.

**Ron was still in a bad mood with Hermione next day. He barely talked to her all through Herbology, even though he, Harry, and Hermione were working together on the same puffapod.**

Hugo and Rose exchanged looks, Hugo bighting his lip.

"**How's Scabbers?" Hermione asked timidly as they stripped fat pink pods from the plants and emptied the shining beans into a wooden pail.**

"**He's hiding at the bottom of my bed, shaking," said Ron angrily, missing the pail and scattering beans over the greenhouse floor.**

"Poor thing," Lily tutted.

"Mum really should keep a better eye on that cat," Rose sighed. "It does seem unusually keen to get at Scabbers, and Dad wouldn't forgive her if Crookshanks actually _got _to him."

"**Careful, Weasley, careful!" cried Professor Sprout as the beans burst into bloom before their very eyes.**

**They had Transfiguration next. Harry, who had resolved to ask Professor McGonagall after the lesson whether he could go into Hogsmeade with the rest, joined the line outside the class trying to decide how he was going to argue his case. **

"Anyone want to bet on his chances?" Fred asked.

No one did. They all could guess how it would turn out.

**He was distracted, however, by a disturbance at the front of the line. Lavender Brown seemed to be crying. **

"Oh no, what's happened?" Rose asked, concern shooting through her. She knew it was a bit early to be worrying about Death Eater attacks and things like that, but she had heard snatches of the adults' conversation about being at school during the war, how every other _Prophet_ had brought news of someone's death.

**Parvati had her arm around her and was explaining something to Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were looking very serious.**

"**What's the matter, Lavender?" said Hermione anxiously as she, Harry, and Ron went to join the group.**

"**She got a letter from home this morning," Parvati whispered.**

Rose's stomach clenched.

"**It's her rabbit, Binky. He's been killed by a fox."**

She let out a puff of air, tension seeping away. It was just some stupid rabbit. Not the girl's mother or little brother or something awful like that. But Rose knew that some of the books she was now carrying around in her bag would hold darker stories that started just like this one.

"**Oh," said Hermione, "I'm sorry, Lavender."**

"**I should have known!" said Lavender tragically. "You know what day it is?"**

"**Er —"**

"**The sixteenth of October! 'That thing you're dreading, it will happen on the sixteenth of October!' Remember? She was right, she was right!"**

And now Rose was exasperated. In fact, the whole group was exchanging raised eyebrows and skeptical looks. Fred and James were even snickering.

"A bit dramatic isn't she?" Rose said tartly.

Lily shrugged and kept reading.

**The whole class was gathered around Lavender now. Seamus shook his head seriously. **

It struck Teddy suddenly that, at this time, a friend's pet dying was about as serious as a lot of those students had ever had to get. He knew most of them now, had met everyone from Harry's year and house except for Lavender Brown, and could see, sometimes, the rawness and prematurity with which they had been stripped of their innocence. But here, most of them still had it. It still set him slightly off to come across moments of blatant innocence like this.

**Hermione hesitated; then she said, "You — you were dreading Binky being killed by a fox?"**

"**Well, not necessarily by a **_**fox,**_**" said Lavender, looking up at Hermione with streaming eyes, "but I was **_**obviously **_**dreading him dying, wasn't I?"**

"She sounds like she wasn't sure until today," Rose muttered.

"**Oh," said Hermione. She paused again. Then — "Was Binky an **_**old **_**rabbit?"**

"**N — no!" sobbed Lavender. "H — he was only a baby!"**

**Parvati tightened her arm around Lavender's shoulders.**

"**But then, why would you dread him dying?" said Hermione.**

"Not the _best _question to ask a girl grieving her bunny's death," Albus mumbled.

"She can't help herself," James drawled. "She has a point to make. Other people's feelings have temporarily been pushed to the wayside."

He looked pointedly at Rose and she could sense in his gaze that, though he had accepted her sheepish apologies earlier, he still resented her tactlessness. She was loth to admit it, but she couldn't exactly blame him. Watching her mother make much the same mistake now had her cringing, even if she did agree whole-heartedly with the point being made.

**Parvati glared at her.**

"**Well, look at it logically," said Hermione, turning to the rest of the group. "I mean, Binky didn't even die today, did he? Lavender just got the news today —" Lavender wailed loudly. "— and she **_**can't **_**have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock —"**

"Well, that's true," Hugo murmured.

"But you've got to admit, it's spooky that it came on the _sixteenth_," Lily said quietly. "She could have picked any day, but she picked the sixteenth."

"Maybe," Teddy said. He didn't look sold on Trelawney's prediction. "But all she said was 'that thing you're dreading'. If Lavender had had to take a test, or, I dunno, seen her crush flirting with another girl, or any other bad thing, she would have said Trelawney was right, too."

"But still…" Lily said uneasily. If this had happened, couldn't something from her father's cup happen, too?

"**Don't mind Hermione, Lavender," said Ron loudly, "she doesn't think other people's pets matter very much."**

The whole group winced.

"He's just set off a bomb," James groaned.

**Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door at that moment, which was perhaps lucky; Hermione and Ron were looking daggers at each other, and when they got into class, they seated themselves on either side of Harry and didn't talk to each other for the whole class.**

Albus grimaced in sympathy.

"Rough spot, being in the middle of those two," Teddy nodded.

"Have I ever told you guys how glad I am that you don't fight very often?" Albus said to Rose and Scorpius.

"Don't speak too soon, little brother," James warned, casting Scorpius and Rose wicked grins. "They've only known each other a year. We'll check back in once you've reached third year."

"And _what _exactly are you insinuating?" Rose asked dangerously.

James smirked, but he knew better than to elaborate.

**Harry still hadn't decided what he was going to say to Professor McGonagall when the bell rang at the end of the lesson, but it was she who brought up the subject of Hogsmeade first.**

"That was lucky," said Hugo.

"**One moment, please!" she called as the class made to leave. "As you're all in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting the village, so don't forget!"**

**Neville put up his hand.**

"**Please, Professor, I — I think I've lost —"**

"**Your grandmother sent yours to me directly, Longbottom," said Professor McGonagall. "She seemed to think it was safer. **

There were several snorts.

"Oh, Neville," Rose sighed.

"Although you've got to wonder if things like that – his grandmother not even trusting him to keep track of his own slip – really helped his confidence," Teddy mused.

It had always embarrassed him to no end when he noticed his grandmother put up breakable things, or insist on lighting the candles on his birthday cakes lest he burn the house down. Granted, his coordination might have proven such precautions reasonable, but it never made him feel very good.

**Well, that's all, you may leave."**

"**Ask her now," Ron hissed at Harry.**

"**Oh, but —" Hermione began.**

"**Go for it, Harry," said Ron stubbornly.**

"Angel and devil," Rose muttered, holding back a giggle with difficulty.

**Harry waited for the rest of the class to disappear, then headed nervously for Professor McGonagall's desk.**

"**Yes, Potter?"**

**Harry took a deep breath.**

"**Professor, my aunt and uncle — er — forgot to sign my form," he said.**

"That's what he's going with?" James asked incredulously. "Not only is that a lie, it's a _lame _lie. If he told her the truth, she might actually let him go. Or better yet, get Dumbledore to let Dad move in permanently to the Burrow."

Teddy wished Harry would have told McGonagall. If he'd told someone what really happened on Privet Drive, at the very least he might realize exactly _how _bad it was instead of just pretending none of it ever happened. But Harry would never tell. Not even now. Not even to Teddy. For whatever reason, it was easier for him to forget about it, make his peace and be done with it, than to let anybody know the truth.

Teddy sighed in frustration. The image of McGonagall's face if Teddy were to pay her a visit and inform her of one of her former students' home-life was a tempting, tempting thing, but then he thought of the mixture of humiliation, betrayal, and anger that would likely paint his godfather's face if Teddy ever told a soul what he knew, and it effectively sealed his mouth. He refocused on what Lily was reading, trying to be interested again in how McGonagall would react to Harry's request.

**Professor McGonagall looked over her square spectacles at him but didn't say anything.**

"Never a good sign," Fred whispered, nodding knowledgeably.

"**So — er — d'you think it would be all right — I mean, will it be okay if I — if I go to Hogsmeade?"**

"No," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "Especially when you pitch it like that! If he even had an excuse for why his aunt and uncle didn't sign the form, or told her that they said it was okay, but had never gotten around to signatures, or – I dunno, a loud of other things! I hope for the wizarding world's sake that he's gotten better at defending his arguments, or he'll never win a case in court!"

James found that he agreed with Rose one hundred percent, but he was not about to voice this realization.

Even Albus looked a bit incredulous at his father's pitiful attempts to sway McGonagall, and Teddy couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure he got better at defending himself pretty quickly," he assure the group. "You'd be insane to go up against him in court – not least because he's almost always got Hermione right behind him and Ron cracking his knuckles in the back of the stands."

"That does tend to help," James agreed with a slight smirk. Ron had recently retold a court case to the lot of them, most likely with much more theatrics than what really happened, (James was pretty sure that if somebody's brain had imploded just from his aunt's glare it would have made the prophet) but it got the point across loud and clear what a force the three of them could be if they wanted to be.

Albus suddenly remembered something he had over-heard when he'd been home for the Easter Holidays. His father had been talking with Ron and George – about Scorpius, and himself and Rose being friends with him, so of course he could hardly walk away from a conversation like that – and they had let some things slip that Albus was almost certain they didn't want him to know and absolutely certain that Scorpius didn't know. Apparently his father had waged a vicious battle in court shortly after the war was over during the Malfoys' trials. And he had been on their side. Ron had said it was only due to Harry that they weren't all locked up in Azkaban right now. He wondered if that was the trial that taught his father how to argue, or if it had happened long before that.

And, glancing sideways at his friend, he wondered for the hundredth time since finding out this information if he should tell Scorpius or not.

But Lily was already quickly moving on and Albus tuned in again to what was happening, although they all knew what was coming.

**Professor McGonagall looked down and began shuffling papers on her desk.**

"**I'm afraid not, Potter," she said. "You heard what I said. No form, no visiting the village. That's the rule."**

"**But — Professor, my aunt and uncle — you know, they're Muggles, they don't really understand about — about Hogwarts forms and stuff," Harry said, while Ron egged him on with vigorous nods. **

Fred and James both grimaced and Rose sighed. James and Lily both obviously got their manipulating skills from their mother (though Albus seemed, once again, to be right in line with his father for now). How many other students were Muggle-born and managed to get permission?

"**If you said I could go —"**

"But she doesn't say," James said dully, disappointment sinking through him. His father really would be left behind, which meant no sneak-peak at Hogsmeade for James and a rough weekend for Harry.

"**But I don't say so," said Professor McGonagall, **

"What'd I say?" James muttered under his breath.

"Exactly that," Fred whispered, looking a little unnerved. "I reckon you've been spending too much time in the Head's office."

James gave him a mock-scandalized look. "You? Thinking I've been spending too much time in the Head's office? Never!"

**standing up and piling her papers neatly into a drawer. "The form clearly states that the parent or guardian must give permission." She turned to look at him, with an odd expression on her face. Was it pity? **

"On Minerva McGonagall's face? Never!" Fred exclaimed.

"Oh, come on," Rose said, frowning at Fred. "She's not heartless, you know that better than anyone."

"Why does Fred know that better than anyone?" Hugo asked, unable to keep a smirk off his face.

Fred shrugged and muttered something unintelligible. But now Lily, Scorpius, and Teddy were curious, too.

"Come on, there's a story here," Teddy insisted, looking between Rose, Fred, James, and Albus.

Fred was busy twisting more grass, obviously not about to jump into the narrative, so James took up the story.

"Well, a couple of weeks ago Fred and I thought it might be a lot of fun to start exam time off with a bang. You know, diffuse the tension, startle a few fifth years into cowering behind their mountains of notes, get a few seventh years so furious with us they forgot about their life-changingly important tests for five seconds."

"Of course," Teddy nodded seriously, the sarcasm in his voice very subtle. "What's more fun than startling study-crazed students two heads taller than you?"

"Exactly," James went on, glad to have found someone who understood. "They flip faster than a school of Gulping Plimpeys. Anyway, so we had a big stash of WWW fireworks saved up that we just hadn't used this year for some reason, and –"

"Oh, let me guess what responsible, sensible boys like you did with that stash," Teddy interrupted, closing his eyes dramatically.

"Lit them off in the Library and the Great Hall of course," James nodded.

"Of course."

"Right, so Filch just about has a stroke, which was really funny with his vanes popping out and his face turning purple and all, but then Neville had to go and turn us over to McGonagal – probably because he thought it was brilliant, too – and we thought we were in for it. We got a nice long lecture about disrupting crucial learning environments and burning down valuable stores of knowledge, blah blah blah. Then it came time to dole out our punishment and I decided it was about time we cranked our charm before she decided to keep us for the summer or something.

"Well, I started out and Fred jumped in and I guess she didn't think fast enough or something, because she didn't head us off and we got going really good, finishing each other's' sentences even. Well, after a while of her just listening to us, we started to get unnerved, because, well, like Fred said, it's never a good sign when she's quiet. Well, we thought we were really in for it then. But you know what happened?"

He paused, looking around the group dramatically. To his satisfaction, they were all hanging on his words, even Rose and Albus who had heard the story before.

"Well, she let us off the hook!"

"No way," Teddy said incredulously.

"Yes way," James insisted. "But that's not even the weirdest thing if you can imagine. She was looking at us really funny, going from one to the other, and then she said we'd better not do it again and to get to our class."

"You're full of it," Teddy told James, shaking his head. "McGonagall's cooler than most people give her credit for, but she's not that cool. No way would she let you just walk away."

"Well, she did say something else as we were leaving, but I don't think we were meant to hear it," James confessed.

"She ought to know by now that Potters hear everything they're not meant to hear," Teddy muttered. "So what was it?"

James glanced at Fred, who was still engrossed in his grass, apparently not paying attention at all, though James knew he was.

"Something about how – how 'at least parts of them were still alive'," he finished quietly.

The group hushed again.

"Nearly her whole life is and was her students," Rose murmured after a moment. "Of course she feels bad that Harry can't go into the village. But she's hardly the type to show it or she'd never have control of anything."

After another moment's pause, which seemed to establish that no one else had anymore to add, Lily began reading again, a bit uncertainly.

"**I'm sorry, Potter, but that's my final word. You had better hurry, or you'll be late for your next lesson."**

**There was nothing to be done. Ron called Professor McGonagall a lot of names that greatly annoyed Hermione; Hermione assumed an "all-for-the-best" expression that made Ron even angrier, and Harry had to endure everyone in the class talking loudly and happily about what they were going to do first, once they got into Hogsmeade.**

"Well that's rotten," Hugo said, making a face.

"And Mum and Dad have found something else to fight about," Rose added with a sigh.

"But it _is _all for the best, I suppose," Albus admitted reluctantly. "From their standpoint, anyway. McGonagall's just trying to keep Dad safe."

Normally James or Fred would have taken up Ron's defense and insisted McGonagall didn't have to be so unfair, but in light of the story James had just recounted, neither could bring themselves to speak badly about their headmistress.

"**There's always the feast," said Ron, in an effort to cheer Harry up. "You know, the Halloween feast, in the evening."**

"Pales in comparison to your first Hogsmeade trip," Teddy said regretfully, feeling his godfather's gloomy mood.

"**Yeah," said Harry gloomily, "great."**

**The Halloween feast was always good, but it would taste a lot better if he was coming to it after a day in Hogsmeade with everyone else. Nothing anyone said made him feel any better about being left behind. Dean Thomas, who was good with a quill, had offered to forge Uncle Vernon's signature on the form, but as Harry had already told Professor McGonagall he hadn't had it signed, that was no good. **

"Why couldn't Dean have said something earlier?" James demanded, frustrated.

"Dad didn't ask," Albus said reasonably, but he, Rose, and Scorpius could not resist exchanging smirks. Max Valentine, a rather odd boy in Albus's dormitory was infamous for withholding crucial information on the grounds that 'no one asked'. Professor Bridwell (their transfiguration teacher) had nearly very nearly gone ballistic when, after half a class period of frantic searching for her wand, Max had matter-of-factly produced it from his bag, informing her that he'd picked it up off the ground so it wouldn't get stepped on.

Albus could never deliver the 'no one asked' line without nearly cracking up.

**Ron halfheartedly suggested the Invisibility Cloak, but Hermione stamped on that one, reminding Ron what Dumbledore had told them about the dementors being able to see through them. **

"And how do the dementors know if Dad's allowed out of school or not?" James asked.

"They probably wouldn't be able to tell Harry apart from the rest if he went by fast," Teddy said thoughtfully. "But Harry doesn't know that and clearly Dumbledore doesn't want him getting any ideas."

James flopped back onto the ground, shaking his head up at the clouds. "He really needs to find a good secret passage."

**Percy had what were possibly the least helpful words of comfort.**

"Shocking," Fred said.

"**They make a fuss about Hogsmeade, but I assure you, Harry, it's not all it's cracked up to be," he said seriously. **

Fred and James exchanged looks of slight worry. They'd been looking forward to an afternoon spent (legally) in the village for months.

"**All right, the sweetshop's rather good, and Zonko's Joke Shop's frankly dangerous, and yes, the Shrieking Shack's always worth a visit, but really,**

**Harry, apart from that, you're not missing anything."**

Teddy snorted. "Yes, apart from all the great places to go and cool things to see, Hogsmeade's really not that interesting."

Fred and James had lost their worried looks and were now grinning.

"Yeah, not missing anything," Fred drawled, rolling his eyes.

"He's never been terribly good at cheering anybody up but Molly," Rose said with some amusement.

**On Halloween morning, Harry awoke with the rest and went down to breakfast, feeling thoroughly depressed, though doing his best to act normally.**

James imagined not being allowed to go with the rest of his year into the village for the first time. He didn't think he'd be able to even try to act normally. But he couldn't get very far in the imagining because as soon as no teachers were looking, he'd sneak out of the school anyway.

"**We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes," said Hermione, looking desperately sorry for him.**

"**Yeah, loads," said Ron. He and Hermione had finally forgotten their squabble about Crookshanks in the face of Harry's difficulties.**

"I'd hope so," Rose mumbled. "It'd be awfully petty if they stayed angry and forgot about Harry."

"I reckon Harry's half the reason they weren't at each other's throats through all of their school years," Teddy said thoughtfully. "Probably the reason they ended up together, too. If they didn't have him needing their help, they probably would have avoided each other as much as possible with all the bickering they do."

"You don't think they would have fallen in love on their own?" Rose asked, finding it hard to accept a world in which her parents were not married.

"Well, I can't know for sure, obviously," Teddy told her, "but it's hard to look past people's fronts, you know? If Ron and Hermione hadn't been forced to be around each other all the time, even when they were angry with each other, Ron probably would have never figured out that your mum's only a bossy know-it-all on the outside, and Hermione would probably have never gotten close enough to realized that Ron's got a good heart under all his tactlessness."

Rose thought about this. It was true enough that her uncle had been the one to persuade her father to go after her mother on their first Halloween at Hogwarts. As much as she wished (as most twelve-year-old girls do) that her parents' romance was fated and inevitable no matter what, the truth was it probably was close to a miracle that they'd ended up together.

And of course, weighing all the odds and events that Rose knew so far, she felt ridiculous for having succumbed to the fanciful thoughts of romantic girls. Rose Weasley was nothing if not practical.

"**Don't worry about me," said Harry, in what he hoped was an offhand voice, "I'll see you at the feast. Have a good time."**

**He accompanied them to the entrance hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front doors, checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn't be going.**

"**Staying here, Potter?" shouted Malfoy, who was standing in line with Crabbe and Goyle. "Scared of passing the dementors?"**

"You would be too, if you had Dad's memories," James couldn't help but growl under his breath, but nobody else acted as though they'd noticed Malfoy's remark.

**Harry ignored him and made his solitary way up the marble staircase, through the deserted corridors, and back to Gryffindor Tower.**

"**Password?" said the Fat Lady, jerking out of a doze.**

"**Fortuna Major," said Harry listlessly.**

**The portrait swung open and he climbed through the hole into the common room. It was full of chattering first and second years, and a few older students, who had obviously visited Hogsmeade so often the novelty had worn off.**

"How could you ever get bored with Hogsmeade?" Fred said in disbelief.

"Believe it or not, a bunch of over-excited third years running around hyped up on sugar and going crazy on their first visit can do that," Teddy said dryly.

"You stopped going into the village?" James demanded incredulously.

"Only the first visits in sixth and seventh year," Teddy shrugged.

But he wasn't being entirely truthful, saying the novelty wore off, at least in sixth year. He had had a girlfriend that year, Emily Rogers. And for reasons he only really understood now, he and Victoire had barely been able to stay on speaking terms for a week at a time that year. He had told Victoire he wasn't going into the village in a stupid, teenage-boy attempt to seem cool and mature, making her excitement over the visit seem childish. She had rolled her eyes and pretended not to hear his plans.

On the morning of the trip, as Victoire stood in line waiting to be cleared to leave, Teddy had purposely strolled out of the Great Hall, holding Emily's hand, led Emily up the marble staircase, and snogged her where he knew Victoire could see. He had gotten a dung bomb in his trunk the next morning, stamped with a WWW label and had gone around in reeking robes for three days. Nobody claimed credit, but Victoire got an inexplicable smirk on her face whenever she spotted Emily wrinkling her nose just sitting three feet away from him.

"Teddy…. Earth to Teddy!"

Teddy blinked. James was snapping his fingers in front of his face impatiently.

"Space out much?" he asked.

Teddy smiled sheepishly. "Just realizing what an idiot I was in sixth year."

"I should think so," James said, sitting back down in his designated spot in the circle. "Skipping Hogsmeade?..." he shook his head.

Now that Teddy was back on line, Lily started reading again.

"**Harry! Harry! Hi, Harry!"**

**It was Colin Creevey, **

"I've missed him," James said, brightening.

**a second year who was deeply in awe of Harry and never missed an opportunity to speak to him.**

"**Aren't you going to Hogsmeade, Harry? Why not? **

"He's got another pesky murderer out for his blood, so the teachers won't let him," Fred said matter-of-factly. "You know how it goes."

Lily, who didn't find this very funny, read over him.

**Hey" — Colin looked eagerly around at his friends — "you can come and sit with us, if you like, Harry!"**

"Yeah, go sit with Colin and a bunch of second years and get stared at," Fred said enthusiastically.

"**Er — no, thanks, Colin," said Harry, who wasn't in the mood to have a lot of people staring avidly at the scar on his forehead. "I — I've got to go to the library, got to get some work done."**

**After that, he had no choice but to turn right around and head back out of the portrait hole again.**

"If he really does go to the library and get work done, I'm officially removing his Gryffindor status," James declared.

"What's wrong with being productive?" Rose asked, fixing James with a look.

"Nothing, so long as it's the right kind of productivity, like finding secret passageways or annoying Filch or hunting Mrs. Norris," James told her. "Crack a book on a Saturday and you've ceased being normal."

Lily kept reading, shaking her head as Rose gave an exasperated huff.

"**What was the point waking me up?" the Fat Lady called grumpily after him as he walked away.**

**Harry wandered dispiritedly toward the library, but halfway there he changed his mind; he didn't feel like working. **

"Thank god," James muttered.

**He turned around and came face-to-face with Filch, **

Fred yelped automatically. That was never a good place to be.

**who had obviously just seen off the last of the Hogsmeade visitors.**

"**What are you doing?" Filch snarled suspiciously.**

"Plotting, of course," James said sarcastically.

"He's planning to overthrow you with fanged Frisbees and an army of Nifflers and liberate the school!" Fred said seriously.

"**Nothing," said Harry truthfully.**

"Aw, come on, you can think of something better than that," Fred said in disappointment.

"**Nothing!" spat Filch, his jowls quivering unpleasantly. "A likely story! Sneaking around on your own — **

"He's not _sneaking,_" Lily interrupted herself to say indignantly.

**why aren't you in Hogsmeade buying Stink Pellets and Belch Powder and Whizzing Worms like the rest of your nasty little friends?"**

"I resent labeling the consumers of those products as nasty," James said loftily.

Rose wrinkled her nose. "I think for once Filch is right. Wizzing Worms and Belch Powder is about as nasty as you can get."

"You don't like Whizzing Worms?" James asked her innocently, reaching into his pocket.

"If you throw one of those things at me, James Potter, I will throw _you_ in the river."

"Been there, done that," Albus said.

"Tsk tsk, getting paranoid, Rosie. I was just going to offer you a peppermint toad," James said, withdrawing his hand to reveal a half-melted sweet that might once have looked like a toad. He grinned toothily at Rose.

"No thanks," she said delicately.

**Harry shrugged.**

"**Well, get back to your common room where you belong!" snapped Filch, and he stood glaring until Harry had passed out of sight.**

**But Harry didn't go back to the common room; he climbed a staircase, thinking vaguely of visiting the Owlery to see Hedwig, **

"That would be nice of him," Lily smiled. "I bet the owls get lonely up there all the time."

"They've got each other," Hugo pointed out.

"Yes," Lily agreed, "but it's not the same as having your owner keep you company, I think. She's Dad's friend, after all, but all he does at school is make her deliver letters."

**and was walking along another corridor when a voice from inside one of the rooms said, "Harry?"**

**Harry doubled back to see who had spoken and met Professor Lupin, looking around his office door.**

Teddy could not help the flutter of excitement that burst in his stomach.

"Teddy's dad'll be able to cheer Dad up," Lily said brightly. After all, Teddy was the best at cheering her up.

"**What are you doing?" said Lupin, though in a very different voice from Filch. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"**

"Even the professors think something's up when they see one without the other two," James observed.

"I get nervous when I don't see you with Fred and Aaron," Albus told him. "Usually that means they're hiding somewhere waiting to pelt me with exploding ink pots, though."

"Somehow I don't think that's what's going through my Dad's mind," Teddy said, smiling.

"**Hogsmeade," said Harry, in a would-be casual voice.**

"**Ah," said Lupin. He considered Harry for a moment. "Why don't you come in? I've just taken delivery of a grindylow for our next lesson."**

Teddy's interest piqued a little more. So did Fred and James, though probably for a different reason.

"What are grindylows?" James asked eagerly.

"Don't you know?" Rose asked, surprised.

"I don't sit around reading my text books like some people," he told her.

"Be quiet and I'll tell you what grindylows are," Lily said impatiently, clicking her tongue.

"**A what?" said Harry.**

**He followed Lupin into his office. In the corner stood a very large tank of water. A sickly green creature with sharp little horns had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly fingers.**

"Wicked," Fred and James breathed.

Albus thought it sounded a little creepy, but even he had to admit it would be cool to see. As long as it was safely behind glass.

"**Water demon," said Lupin, surveying the grindylow thoughtfully. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the kappas. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, but very brittle."**

**The grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weeds in a corner.**

Scorpius swallowed uneasily. He had never known there to be so many water demons fixed on drowning you.

"**Cup of tea?" Lupin said, looking around for his kettle. "I was just thinking of making one."**

"**All right," said Harry awkwardly.**

"That would be a bit awkward," James said fervently. He tried to imagine sitting down for a cup of tea with Professor Bridwell. Maybe that wasn't the best person to imagine having tea with, though. James quickly forgot how awkward it would be as he tried to imagine how her tightly pressed lips would part enough to allow a beverage into her mouth.

"But Remus _knows _Dad," Lily put in.

"Not really," James shrugged. "Not any better than the rest of the students. I mean, so he probably was one of the first people to hold Dad after he was born and maybe had a stack of baby pictures doting parents like to send out, but it's not like Dad remembers any of that."

"Hang on, what are you talking about?" Scorpius asked. "I thought Harry just met Lupin."

"Well, he did," Albus explained. "But Teddy's Dad knew my grandparents. Er, Dad's parents that is."

"Even if you don't know your teachers, it's not weird to have a cup of tea with them," Rose put in, looking at James. "Remus is just trying to take Harry's mind off Hogsmeade."

"And he's probably curious to get to know Harry a little better," Teddy added. "It's kind of why Charlie always took time out to get to know me. He was friends with my mum in school, wanted to know how her kid turned out."

"Either way, it's a good thing that Remus is around," Lily decided. "Dad needs some company. And maybe he'll explain why he didn't let him fight the boggart so Dad can stop feeling bad about it."

And before anyone else could interrupt again, she kept reading.

**Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout.**

"**Sit down," said Lupin, taking the lid off a dusty tin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid — but I daresay you've had enough of tea leaves?"**

**Harry looked at him. Lupin's eyes were twinkling.**

A few people laughed a bit. Teddy grinned widely. The pictures he had never seemed to capture the light-hearted side of his father. Over the years, he had grown to picture him as nothing but serious and studious and bravely so. But already this book was showing him a different angle. Snape in a dress didn't come from someone who was only serious after all.

"**How did you know about that?" Harry asked.**

"**Professor McGonagall told me," said Lupin, passing Harry a chipped mug of tea. "You're not worried, are you?"**

"**No," said Harry.**

**He thought for a moment of telling Lupin about the dog he'd seen in Magnolia Crescent but decided not to. He didn't want Lupin to think he was a coward, especially since Lupin already seemed to think he couldn't cope with a boggart.**

"I'm sure he doesn't think that," Lily murmured.

"What do you think your dad would've done if Harry had told him?" Rose asked Teddy curiously.

"I think it would have really freaked him out," Teddy said slowly. "Knowing Sirius had only been feet away from him on a dark street."

"And seeing Remus get freaked out over a supposed Grimm would likely not make Dad feel better," said Albus.

"No, I don't think it would have," Teddy agreed.

**Something of Harry's thoughts seemed to have shown on his face, because Lupin said, "Anything worrying you, Harry?"**

Teddy wondered, since Harry looked so much like his father, if Remus could read his expression better than most since he'd been so close to James for so long. He wondered if it had been hard for his father to see his old friends every time he looked at Harry, especially with Harry none the wiser. Then he wondered if it was hard for his grandmother or Harry to see parts of Teddy's parents in himself.

"**No," Harry lied. He drank a bit of tea and watched the grindylow brandishing a fist at him. "Yes," he said suddenly, putting his tea down on Lupin's desk. **

"Hang on," Albus asked, sitting up. "Is Dad finally going to admit to somebody other than Ron and Hermione that something's bothering him? I thought it would take another few _years _for that to happen."

"He must trust Teddy's dad a lot," Rose said thoughtfully.

Teddy smiled a little. He hoped that was true, though that it was. It was still a bit strange to picture Harry as the lost teenager and Teddy's father being the one around to do the guiding Harry had done for Teddy. Although, at this point Harry wasn't broadcasting a need for adult guidance. Teddy wondered if he ever would.

"**You know that day we fought the boggart?"**

"Good," Albus said under his breath. Best get that straightened out.

"**Yes," said Lupin slowly.**

"**Why didn't you let me fight it?" said Harry abruptly.**

**Lupin raised his eyebrows.**

"**I would have thought that was obvious, Harry," he said, sounding surprised.**

"To everyone but Harry," Rose sighed.

**Harry, who had expected Lupin to deny that he'd done any such thing, was taken aback.**

Teddy thought about this. Most adults probably would have. In order to avoid admitting they thought a student incapable of facing something, they would have insisted it was all in the kid's head. But his father didn't patronize his pupils like that, even with good intent.

"That probably just raised him a few notches in Harry's opinion," he said thoughtfully.

The rest looked at him.

"What d'you mean?" James asked.

"Well, he didn't try to lie and look better like most adults. Everyone appreciates not being treated like a foolish little kid," Teddy explained.

He couldn't help but wonder what kind of honesty about the world his father would have afforded him, had he been given the opportunity to raise him. But Teddy quickly turned his thoughts away from that direction. He had spent enough time when he was younger wondering what his life would be like if he'd been raised by his parents. What was important here was understanding why Harry had been given such a big hand in raising him.

"**Why?" he said again.**

"**Well," said Lupin, frowning slightly, "I assumed that if the boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort."**

**Harry stared. Not only was this the last answer he'd expected, but Lupin had said Voldemort's name. The only person Harry had ever heard say the name aloud (apart from himself) was Professor Dumbledore.**

"Another few notches up," Teddy grinned. He knew his father had always said Voldemort's name, but he was only just beginning to appreciate what that said about his character. He had never dreamed so many sensible people (even McGonagall) had refused to speak it aloud.

"**Clearly, I was wrong," said Lupin, still frowning at Harry. "But I didn't think it a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom. I imagined that people would panic."**

"**I didn't think of Voldemort," said Harry honestly. "I — I remembered those dementors."**

"Well, he did think of Voldemort first," Rose murmured. "So it wasn't _such _an off-base guess."

"**I see," said Lupin thoughtfully. "Well, well . . . I'm impressed." He smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry's face. "That suggests that what you fear most of all is — fear. Very wise, Harry."**

"That's what Teddy said," James grinned, reaching around Lily to clap Teddy on the shoulder. Teddy looked down, blushing a bit, warmth glowing inside him at thinking like his father. It was definitive proof that he was, after all, like his parents. It was better than simply being told so.

**Harry didn't know what to say to that, so he drank some more tea.**

"Can't take a compliment," Teddy laughed, shaking his head.

"**So you've been thinking that I didn't believe you capable of fighting the boggart?" said Lupin shrewdly.**

"**Well . . . yeah," said Harry. He was suddenly feeling a lot happier.**

"Good," Lily said, barely breaking the flow of her reading to comment.

"**Professor Lupin, you know the dementors —"**

"Why of course he does!" Fred said incredulously. "Has them over for tea every Sunday. Bob Soul-Eater probably drank from the very cup you've got."

"That's creepy," Hugo told Fred, shivering a little.

**He was interrupted by a knock on the door.**

"**Come in," called Lupin.**

**The door opened, and in came Snape. **

"What does he want?" James asked, glowering. Snape seemed to hate Lupin, for reasons he only vaguely had an inkling of.

**He was carrying a goblet, which was smoking faintly, and stopped at the sight of Harry, his black eyes narrowing.**

"Does anyone else sense great danger, or is it just my clairvoyance coming through again?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, you're a real seer," James said, rolling his eyes at his cousin.

"**Ah, Severus," said Lupin, smiling. "Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?"**

**Snape set down the smoking goblet, his eyes wandering between Harry and Lupin.**

"**I was just showing Harry my grindylow," said Lupin pleasantly, pointing at the tank.**

"**Fascinating," said Snape, without looking at it. "You should drink that directly, Lupin."**

"**Yes, yes, I will," said Lupin.**

"**I made an entire cauldronful," Snape continued. "If you need more."**

"What is it, though? Seriously?" James asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I wouldn't trust anything Snape leaves," Rose said, uncharacteristically darkly.

"I think it's meant to help my dad," Teddy offered. "Harry told me about it, that Dumbledore had it made for him while he was at school."

"You mean – " Lily started, but broke off at Teddy's sharp nod.  
>"Help him with what?" Scorpius asked.<p>

"To – er – make him feel better," Teddy said lamely. Now that he had dodged the bullet so long, he couldn't find a way to bring up the fact that his father was a werewolf to Scorpius. He'd just have to wait until Harry figured it out and let the book do the explaining.

"I wondered how that worked," Rose mumbled, eyes bright with intrigue. It was a fundamental part of her mother's pro-werewolf work laws.

"But it's still Snape," James said skeptically. "How did Dumbledore know he wasn't trying to poison your dad or something?"

"Dumbledore trusted Snape," Teddy reminded James patiently, also throwing a quick glance in Albus's direction. "This ought to be proof enough of that, even if it seems like Snape was a real piece of work to us now."

Albus shrugged one shoulder, nodding to pacify Teddy. Maybe, but that didn't erase all the things he put Neville and Harry through.

"**I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus."**

"**Not at all," said Snape, but there was a look in his eye Harry didn't like. He backed out of the room, unsmiling and watchful.**

**Harry looked curiously at the goblet. Lupin smiled.**

"**Professor Snape has very kindly concocted a potion for me," he said. "I have never been much of a potion-brewer and this one is particularly complex." **

"That must be where you get it from," James smirked, looking over at Teddy.

"Yeah, Harry told me that when I nearly failed my practice potions O.W.L." Teddy said, grinning sheepishly. "I think he was hoping I'd give up potions after that and pick a different career than an Auror. Tough luck."

"Harry didn't want you being an Auror?" Scorpius asked, surprised. "But _he's _head of the department."

"Exactly," Teddy said, rolling his eyes at his godfather's hypocrisy when it came to the people he loved doing dangerous things. "He didn't want me getting hurt. Like that was going to stop me. I made a deal with him when I graduated Hogwarts. Told him I wouldn't risk my neck to save the world if he wouldn't. So now I'm on 'the force'."

James and Albus exchanged smirks as they remembered the look that had been on their father's face when Teddy made his proposition. They'd all known Teddy had won before he'd even started.

**He picked up the goblet and sniffed it. "Pity sugar makes it useless," he added, taking a sip and shuddering.**

"**Why — ?" Harry began. Lupin looked at him and answered the unfinished question.**

"**I've been feeling a bit off-color," he said. "This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren't many wizards who are up to making it."**

Scorpius got the distinct impression that this was not the whole truth. But he knew better than to ask the others.

**Professor Lupin took another sip and Harry had a crazy urge to knock the goblet out of his hands.**

"Apparently Dad doesn't trust Snape like you do," James said, giving Teddy a pointed look.

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Your dad's also thought Snape was out to kill _him _before. Remember how that turned out? He just doesn't like Snape."

"Well, you can't really blame him," James grumbled.

"No, you can't," Teddy agreed. "But it doesn't prove Snape's a murderer.

"Look, you can keep a Death Eater chained up on a leash, but it doesn't mean I'm going to drink anything he gives me," James said simply.

"Well, that's a Death Eater," Teddy countered. "Snape might be unpleasant, but that doesn't make him evil, no matter what the rumors about him were. Your dad always tells us that, remember?"

James heaved a sigh.

"**Professor Snape's very interested in the Dark Arts," he blurted out.**

"**Really?" said Lupin, looking only mildly interested as he took another gulp of potion.**

"**Some people reckon —" Harry hesitated, then plunged recklessly on, "some people reckon he'd do anything to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts job."**

Teddy laughed. "If Dad had any doubts about what Harry thought about Snape before, he knows the truth now."

"I know it's not so far off base for Dad," Albus said, ignoring the exasperated looks both Teddy and Rose gave him for jumping on board with the Snape-conspiracy theory, "but can you imagine what would happen if you suggested to one of your teachers that another one was attempting to poison them?"

He smothered his laughter in is fist, picturing Lancing's reaction to that. It would either get him a trip to the hospital wing, or Lancing would laugh himself stupid at the idea.

**Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face.**

"**Disgusting," he said. "Well, Harry, I'd better get back to work. I'll see you at the feast later."**

"**Right," said Harry, putting down his empty teacup.**

**The empty goblet was still smoking.**

James looked at the others darkly. Rose clicked her tongue impatiently.

"That's just the way the potion works, James."

"Whatever you say, Rosie."

"**There you go," said Ron. "We got as much as we could carry."**

**A shower of brilliantly colored sweets fell into Harry's lap. It was dusk, and Ron and Hermione had just turned up in the common room, pink-faced from the cold wind and looking as though they'd had the time of their lives.**

"Well, at least he's not missing out on Honeydukes," Rose said, trying to look on the brighter side of things.

"Yeah, but now he's got to hear all about how wonderful the village is," James groaned, ever out to oppose Rose's endeavors, it seemed.

"**Thanks," said Harry, picking up a packet of tiny black Pepper Imps. "What's Hogsmeade like? Where did you go?"**

**By the sound of it — everywhere. Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop, Zonko's Joke Shop, into the Three Broomsticks for foaming mugs of hot butterbeer, and many places besides.**

"**The post office, Harry! About two hundred owls, all sitting on shelves, all color-coded depending on how fast you want your letter to get there!"**

"That must be Mum," Hugo guessed. "She wouldn't have seen the international Post Office in London, yet. There's about two _thousand _owls there. Plus all kinds of other birds for tropical places and arctic places and over the ocean to America and Australia and stuff like that. It's brilliant!"

He was getting excited just talking about it.

"Maybe you'll work there some day, Hue," Rose said, smiling at her little brother's enthusiasm.

"The night shift," Hugo nodded. "So I can see all the owls swooping in and out and I can work on paperwork for Granddad and maybe even catch a glimpse of a vigilante! Bat Man only comes out at night, you know."

"Bat Man lives in Gotham City," Rose reminded him, having seen the film at her grandparents' house.

Hugo rolled his eyes. "Ten years ago, maybe, but it's been a long time since that movie was made. He could've moved onto London by now. There're only so many bad guys in Gotham, but London's got loads."

"Whatever you say, Hue," Rose relented, looking up at the branches of the tree beside them.

"**Honeydukes has got a new kind of fudge; they were giving out free samples, there's a bit, look —"**

"That's Dad," Rose grinned. "Most interested in the sweets."

"**We **_**think **_**we saw an ogre, honestly, they get all sorts at the Three Broomsticks —"**

"Hermione," Albus said wisely.

"How awesome would it be to meet an Ogre," James said eagerly.

"Until they rip you up," Rose commented.

"They don't do that in public," James said unconcernedly, waving a hand.

"**Wish we could have brought you some butterbeer, really warms you up —"**

"Ron again," Teddy guessed. "And he's not wrong there. Butterbeer is about the best thing out there until you can taste fire whiskey."

"Any chance you'll help us out with that?" James asked Teddy hopefully.

"Not a chance. Your parents would hang me," Teddy told him.

James sighed. "What's the point of having of-age connections if they won't _connect _you with anything?"

"What do you need fire whiskey for, anyway?" Teddy demanded, exasperated. "You'll scorch your throat, do a load of stupid things, puke your guts out, and feel like your head's about to split open the next morning."

"So why's it the best thing you've ever tasted?" James asked slyly.

Realizng his damages, Teddy dropped his face into his hands. "I was lying?" he tried, looking up at James.

"Right."

"Look, when you're of-age, it's different. First off, you're actually responsible. Second, you can sit in pubs and have a laugh with the rest of your friends, which is basically the point of alcohol. It's just dangerous and stupid if you're drinking behind the shed at midnight because you think it's cool."

"Now that our free public service announcement is over, can we get back to the original program?" James asked, rolling his eyes.

"I'm serious, James. That's just the way it is."

"Okay, Ted. Hey, do you think you can get me a promise ring for Christmas?"

"I'm telling your dad about this conversation."

James reddened. "No – no need to do that," he said hastily.

Teddy raised an eyebrow.

"Keep on reading, Lily," James ordered his little sister.

She complied, wondering both what a promise ring was and why her brother thought scorching his throat and puking his guts out was cool.

"**What did you do?" said Hermione, looking anxious. "Did you get any work done?"**

"She can hope, I guess," Fred said.

"**No," said Harry. "Lupin made me a cup of tea in his office. And then Snape came in. . . ."**

"About thirty seconds of keeping it to himself," Fred said. "I'm impressed. Once one knows something, the others know it so fast people are ready to do telepathy studies on those three."

**He told them all about the goblet. Ron's mouth fell open.**

"_**Lupin drank it**_**?" he gasped. "Is he mad?"**

"I think you're outnumbered when it comes to Snape and trust," James said to Rose and Teddy. "No matter where his allegiances lie, you just don't drink something he gives you, especially if it's _smoking_."

"Snape didn't poison my dad," Teddy said evenly.

"You're not nearly paranoid enough to be an Auror," James told him.

**Hermione checked her watch.**

"**We'd better go down, you know, the feast'll be starting in five minutes. . . ." They hurried through the portrait hole and into the crowd, still discussing Snape.**

"**But if he — you know" — Hermione dropped her voice, glancing nervously around — "if he **_**was **_**trying to — to poison Lupin — he wouldn't have done it in front of Harry."**

Rose looked pointedly at the rest.

"I don't try to understand the mind of a poisoner," James said, holding up his hands defensively.

"That's the thinnest excuse I've ever heard," Rose snorted.

"**Yeah, maybe," said Harry as they reached the entrance hall and crossed into the Great Hall. It had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, **

Fred shuddered. Bats. No way he'd stay in the castle with those things flapping around over his head, just eyeing up the pulse in his neck.

**and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant watersnakes.**

**The food was delicious; even Hermione and Ron, who were full to bursting with Honeydukes sweets, managed second helpings of everything. Harry kept glancing at the staff table. Professor Lupin looked cheerful and as well as he ever did; **

"There you have it. He's perfectly fine," Teddy told James.

**he was talking animatedly to tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher. Harry moved his eyes along the table, to the place where Snape sat. Was he imagining it, or were Snape's eyes flickering toward Lupin more often than was natural?**

"Now _he's _paranoid enough to lead the department," James said approvingly. "You better take notes, here, Ted, or you're never getting a job."

**The feast finished with an entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls and tables to do a bit of formation gliding; Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had a great success with a reenactment of his own botched beheading.**

"Awesome," several of the boys said appreciatively. Even Rose had to admit it would be quite the show.

**It had been such a pleasant evening that Harry's good mood couldn't even be spoiled by Malfoy, who shouted through the crowd as they all left the hall, "The dementors send their love, Potter!"**

No one commented, although Hugo crossed his arms and James glowered.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to Gryffindor Tower, but when they reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found it jammed with students.**

"Flight of the Fat Lady," Rose said suddenly, remembering the chapter title.

"They must all be watching the show," Fred said eagerly.

Rose rolled her eyes. "They can't get in, you twit. If she's gone, they're all locked out."

"That's inconvenient," James noted. "Why couldn't she have planned her eloping for a school night, eh? Then everyone would have an excuse for not being able to do their homework."

"Keep reading, Lily," Rose said impatiently, dying to know what was going on.

"**Why isn't anyone going in?" said Ron curiously. **

**Harry peered over the heads in front of him. The portrait seemed to be closed. **

"**Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password — **

Fred snorted. "That would be great."

"Think we could convince the whole house to do that to that pr- er, prefect, Rodney?" James asked, a wicked twinkle in his eye.

**excuse me, I'm Head Boy —"**

**And then a silence fell over the crowd, from the front first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp voice, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."**

"But what's happened?" Rose said desperately.

The chill had seeped out of the book and into the group, too, humor freezing like ice.

Lily hurriedly read on.

**People's heads turned; those at the back were standing on tiptoe.**

"**What's going on?" said Ginny, who had just arrived.**

**A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait; the Gryffindors squeezed together to let him through, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was.**

"**Oh, my —" Hermione grabbed Harry's arm.**

They exchanged nervous glances.

**The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely.**

Rose clapped a hand to her mouth. James, Fred, Albus, Scorpius, Teddy and Hugo all gaped. Lily looked over the top of the books at the others with wide eyes.

"Who – who?" Rose asked faintly.

"Peeves?" Albus suggested, not really believing it.

"No, he wouldn't do something like that," Fred defended.

"Some wacked Slytherin?" James suggested.

"Maybe," Teddy frowned. "But why?"

"Halloween joke?" James said.

"Awfully violent for a joke," Teddy said quietly. "And if they find the Fat Lady, she'll be able to tell them who did it. Slytherins are cunning. It doesn't seem like something they'd do. Keep reading, Lily."

**Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned, his eyes somber, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward him.**

"**We need to find her," said Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."**

"**You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice.**

**It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.**

"You were saying?" Rose said to Fred.

He shook his head. "I never said he doesn't love stuff like this, but he wouldn't do it. He knows it would get him thrown out in a second."

"**What do you mean, Peeves?" said Dumbledore calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle.**

"**Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. **

Rose bit her lip, a wave of sympathy for the Fat Lady sweeping over her.

**Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing," he added unconvincingly.**

"I don't care what you say, Fred. He's awful," Lily shot at Fred.

He waved a hand. "Yeah, sometimes. But he's not so bad. Just keep going, Lil. Who the hell is messed up enough to do that to the Fat Lady?"

"**Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.**

"**Oh yes, Professorhead," said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." **

And a few people realized where this was going. Fred snapped his head around to look at James, who's eyes had widened. Teddy was looking intently at the book, a serious look in his eyes. Albus, Rose, and Scorpius exchanged glances.

**Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."**

Lily lay the book down on the grass, still open to the end of the chapter. They all looked at each other.

"So…" Albus said slowly, glancing nervously between Rose and James, both of whom were avoiding each other's gaze. "Sirius tried to break into Gryffindor Tower. With a knife."

Teddy nodded, thinking hard.

"Why?" Scorpius breathed.

"Not to kill Dad," James said firmly.

"No, of course not," Teddy murmured. "But _why _then? Did he think he was going to sit up in Harry's dormitory and have a nice chat with him when he got back from the feast? What was he _doing_?"

Rose bit her lip.

"Don't say anything," James snarled, a grim mood descending on him like storm clouds.

Rose pressed her lips together and turned away from James. But apparently she couldn't hold in her thoughts. "Harry's not the only person who stays in Gryffindor Tower," she blurted.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" James snapped.

"I don't know. Is there any other reason he might break into Gryffindor Tower with a knife?"

Then Rose's eyes grew very round, her mouth gaped slightly.

"What is it, Rosie?" Teddy asked urgently.

"You don't think – you don't think he was _imperiused_ do you?" she whispered.

A heavy silence engulfed them.

"Is it possible?" Albus asked, barely audibly, looking at Teddy.

"I – I suppose – maybe," he said uncertainly. "But who? How?"

"If someone _let _him out of Azkaban," Rose suggested. "A former Death Eater or something, they could have had him under the curse back in the first wizarding war and now they're using him again."

"Using him to do what?" Lily asked shrilly.

"Get Dad," Albus said in a strangled sort of voice.

"Hang on," Teddy said before this could get out of hand. "How do you explain what Sirius was muttering in his sleep? That was before he got out."

"Maybe the Imperius working on him never faded," Rose suggested. "I've read about strong spells like that. They get imprinted on the _person _and mess with them, change them. Death Eaters use messed up magic, don't you think it could have happened? I mean, what other explanation is there for what he did?"

"There are holes in that theory," Teddy said slowly. "But I'll admit, it's the best thing any of us have come up with. And it's possible."

"But Dad always said Sirius _excaped _," Albus said, looking for a way that Sirius Black's knife was not aimed at his father. "he never said _got let out_."

"But he would still have escaped, even if it was with help," Rose insisted. "And anyway, he might've been talking about Sirius breaking the curse finally, escaping the prison another person set on him."

"It would take a lot of magic to operate a curse like that for over twelve years," said Teddy.

"But it would be possible," Rose said, convinced now.

No one said anything for a moment, then –

"We'll never know unless we keep reading," James said abruptly, reaching for the open book.

**A/N: Did you like it? I hope so. Please let me know one way or another! I love hearing from you! :)**

**If you missed it here's my apology and explanation in condensed form:**

**My dear partner in crime, Bookworm 1256, has gotten quite busy lately, and while she's awesome and still helps me out as much as she can, it's basically been me on my own for most of this book, hence the severely slowed-down updates. This also happens to coincide with me being a senior in high school and in the process of frantically sorting out my future. I'm really sorry that this makes for long waits between chapters, but I'm not abandoning this story and can only beg for patience until I get more time. Thank you all so much! **


	9. Grim Defeat

**Disclaimer: When I blew out my eighteen candles, my birthday wish was the Harry Potter Universe. Until it gets processed, Harry Potter is not mine and I am not JK Rowling. **

**A/N: I have three things for you: One is the next chapter (Yay, done at last!), the second a far to common these days, is an apology for how late it is (Scholarships are being sent out at lwast!) and the third (and fourth, I suppose) is some news. Good news, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Last scholarship due date is March 15, after which I'll have some time again! Bad news, I probably won't be able to post another chapter before then because I'll be busy begging for money and finishing the competition I entered back in December. (It's the story about how Al was born, you know, what his parents had to go through to get him here etc. Check it out on Morning Lilies' profile and make me very happy! :D). But I hope you like this chapter and it will be enough to keep you hanging on until I can update again! **

Chapter Nine

Grim Defeat

Rose glanced at her watch as James flipped the page to the next chapter. He had just opened his mouth to begin reading, heart sinking when he saw the chapter title, when she spoke up.

"It's passed noon," Rose informed the group. "Do you think we should take a lunch break?"

The looks they gave her were answer enough, but Fred said slowly, "Sirius Black just broke into Gryffindor tower with a knife, you suggest he might be imperiused, and you think _now _is the time for a lunch break?"

"She always has to get up for popcorn right when the hero's about to go off a cliff, or the murderer is going to be revealed when we watch films at Mr. and Mrs. Granger's, too," James said, rolling his eyes.

Rose blushed a little. "Sorry. Circadian Rhythms and that," she muttered.

"Circa-what?" Albus asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Never mind. Go ahead, James," Rose said quickly.

"I swear she ate a dictionary when we were little," Albus muttered to Scorpius. Rose smacked his shoulder.

**Chapter Nine**

James read, then sighed heavily.

"What's the matter?" asked Fred, leaning over to read.

James merely read the chapter title aloud.

**Grim Defeat**

"What d'you think that means?" Hugo wondered.

"_Quidditch, _Hue, what else?" James said dully.

"Not necessarily," said Rose, but it was half-hearted.

Albus, Scorpius, Fred, and Hugo turned to Lily. She merely shrugged at them. "All I know is who won the cup," she told them. "Not all the games."

"Well, they can't win every one," Teddy sighed. "Best keep reading, mate."

"Yeah, but the one they lost was back in Dad's first year," James muttered. "They can win every _other_."

He slumped back against the trunk of the tree they sat under and started reading in a dull voice.

**Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused.**

"I'll bet," Hugo murmured.

"**The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. **

"I'll bet," Fred muttered, though in a very different tone than Hugo.

"**Send word with one of the ghosts."**

"Perfect messengers for deadly situations," Teddy couldn't resist saying.

Fred snorted, but Lily pursed her lips.

"It's not a deadly situation," she said firmly.

"Course not. It's a giant sleepover," Fred grinned.

**Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing . . ."**

**One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.**

"**Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.**

**The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened.**

"**Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"**

"Stick in the mud," Fred muttered. Barely a page into the chapter and his seventeen-year-old uncle had already annoyed him twice. If Molly ever became Head Girl, he shuddered to imagine the state the Gryffindor Common room would be in under her tyranny.

"**C'mon," Ron said to Harry and Hermione; they seized three sleeping bags and dragged them into a corner.**

"**Do you think Black's still in the castle?" Hermione whispered anxiously.**

"He's not stupid enough to stick around," James interrupted himself to say.

"Depends what he's trying to do," Teddy said, frowning. "If Rosie's right and he's under some imperius curse, there's no telling what he might do. And if he's not… well, then I've got no idea what he's after."

They all exchange half-baffled, half-nervous looks, and James raised the book again.

"**Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be," said Ron.**

"**It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know," said Hermione as they climbed fully dressed into their sleeping bags and propped themselves on their elbows to talk. "The one night we weren't in the tower. . . ."**

"**I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run," said Ron. "Didn't realize it was Halloween. Otherwise he'd have come bursting in here."**

"Or maybe he did realize," Scorpius suggested. "Maybe that was why he picked that night."

"But _why_?" Rose exclaimed in frustration. "Why would he want to get into an empty tower?"

"Steel something?" Fred offered. "Maybe he wanted a picture of Uncle Harry's parents or something, or the invisibility cloak."

"Why would he risk everything for a picture or the cloak?" Rose said skeptically.

Fred shrugged. "You're the idea girl. I'm just here for kicks."

"But why would he need a _knife _if he only wanted a picture?" Albus questioned.

Fred raised his hands defensively. "Hey, just throwing out suggestions. The man's been stuck in Azkaban for twelve years. He can be a little eccentric if he wants."

"I have a feeling we're going to have to wait a long time before we get any answers," Teddy sighed. "Get on with it, Jamie."

**Hermione shuddered.**

**All around them, people were asking one another the same question: "**_**How did he get in**_**?"**

"That one's easy, at least," James muttered.

"It is?" Scorpius asked.

James gave him a 'duh' sort of look. "There are a bunch of secret passageways that lead into the village. Uncle George says Filch didn't know about most of them back then."

"But how would Black know?" Scorpius asked. "_You _only know 'cause you've got that map."

"I'd've found them eventually," James said, looking mildly offended. "And trust me, Sirius knew his way around the secret passages. But let's see what everybody else thinks."

"**Maybe he knows how to Apparate," said a Ravenclaw a few feet away. "Just appear out of thin air, you know."**

"You can't Apparate in the Hogwarts grounds," Rose said reflexively. "It's in _Hogwarts: A History_."

"So, only you would know it, then," Fred said slowly.

"**Disguised himself, probably," said a Hufflepuff fifth year.**

Teddy suddenly smirked. "Probably."

Scorpius gasped. "That's right! He can turn into a dog, you said! That must be how he's getting in."

James sighed impatiently. "It's the secret passages, Scorp. We've already established that."

But Scorpius wasn't listening.

"**He could've flown in," suggested Dean Thomas.**

"**Honestly, am I the **_**only **_**person who's ever bothered to read **_**Hogwarts, A History**_**?" said Hermione crossly to Harry and Ron.**

"Probably," Fred said a the same time James read the next line.

"**Probably," said Ron. "Why?"**

"**Because the castle's protected by more than **_**walls, **_**you know," said Hermione. "There are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering by stealth. You can't just Apparate in here. And I'd like to see the disguise that could fool those dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They'd have seen him fly in too. And Filch knows all the secret passages, they'll have them covered. . . ."**

Fred cleared his throat delicately. "A bit too much faith in the staff, she has, doesn't she?"

Rose shrugged. "It must make her feel better."

"You know, that's why we prefer to take our safety into our own hands and regularly check the secret passages," Fred said with the air of a public relations official.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Of course it is."

James shook his head. "Such good guesses…. Too bad they're all absolutely wrong."

"**The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"**

"Why can't they talk?" Lily asked, looking slightly ruffled on the behalf of the student body.

"Oh, Uncle Percy can order all he wants," Fred said, waving a hand. "But he can't shut them up after something like this. No way. He just likes to tell people what to do."

**The candles all went out at once. The only light now came from the silvery ghosts, who were drifting about talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered with stars. What with that, and the whispering that still filled the hall, Harry felt as though he were sleeping outdoors in a light wind.**

"It would be awesome to sleep in the Great Hall," Scorpius said slightly dreamily.

As Albus and Rose murmured agreement, Teddy thought about the paintings he had seen in advanced history books from the Battle of Hogwarts, the figures stretched out in the Hall as though asleep, and suppressed a shudder.

**Once every hour, a teacher would reappear in the hall to check that everything was quiet. Around three in the morning, when many students had finally fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in. Harry watched him looking around for Percy, who had been prowling between the sleeping bags, telling people off for talking. **

Fred rolled his eyes.

**Percy was only a short way away from Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who quickly pretended to be asleep as Dumbledore's footsteps drew nearer.**

"And commence the eavesdropping," Rose murmured, smiling slightly to herself.

"**Any sign of him, Professor?" asked Percy in a whisper.**

"**No. All well here?"**

"**Everything under control, sir."**

"**Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."**

"Wonder who took over," Albus mused, running through a mental list of all his portrait friends. "I reckon Isadore and his wolves from the fifth floor would do a good job…."

"You know, sometimes I worry you're going to replace me with a painting," Scorpius told his friend.

Albus rolled his eyes. "Never. Who would I copy off of in potions, then?"

"Glad to know what I am to you," Scorpius said in a mock-wounded voice.

"**And the Fat Lady, sir?"**

"**Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."**

James blinked. "Since when can Filch restore paintings?"

The rest shrugged.

"Maybe he's a closet artist," Rose suggested.

There was a beat of silence, then they all erupted in sniggers. Nope. Never.

**Harry heard the door of the hall creak open again, and more footsteps.**

"**Headmaster?" It was Snape. Harry kept quite still, listening hard. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."**

"Too bad," James muttered. "Should've hidden out in Snape's office and done us all a favor."

"James," Teddy sighed as Albus opened his mouth angrily, but James read over him.

"**What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room?**

"Or there," James added.

"Hey," Fred said indignantly, jabbing him in the ribs.

**The Owlery?"**

"**All searched . . ."**

"**Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."**

"**Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape.**

**Harry raised his head very slightly off his arms to free his other ear.**

"**Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."**

"Huh," said James. "I figured something out before Dumbledore. That must make me, like, a genius or something."

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Try twenty five years after him, _genius_."

"Teddy," James went on in a superior sort of voice. "I've outsmarted _Dumbledore_. I think _I'm _the one who knows what he's talking about." Encompasses

**Harry opened his eyes a fraction and squinted up to where they stood; Dumbledore's back was to him, but he could see Percy's face, rapt with attention, and Snape's profile, which looked angry.**

"**You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before — ah — the start of term?" said Snape, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy out of the conversation.**

"**I do, Severus," said Dumbledore, and there was something like warning in his voice.**

"What's he talking about?" Lily asked, bewildered.

"Obviously something Dumbledore doesn't want to revisit," said Rose curiously.

"**It seems — almost impossible — that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed —"**

"**I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn't reply. **

"No way," Teddy said quietly, but indignation rife in his voice.

"What is it," Lily demanded, struggling to catch on to the subtle implications.

"Snape's trying to pin it on my dad," Teddy explained, somewhat angrily.

"How do you figure?" Scorpius asked.

"They all went to school together," Albus said, cottoning on. "Dad's dad and Teddy's dad and Sirius and Snape. Snape's trying to make out like Teddy's dad is a spy or something for Sirius because they knew each other when they were young."

"That's ridiculous," Scorpius said at once. "Just because you know someone in school doesn't mean you'd _help _them.

"Well, they were friendly," Teddy said vaguely. He couldn't find a way to explain what Sirius and James had done for his dad without mentioning the werewolf thing.

"Either way, Dumbledore knows your dad wouldn't help Black break into the school with a knife," Scorpius went on.

"Why do you keep calling him 'Black'?" James demanded irritably.

Scorpius shrugged. "Don't know him like you lot do. It's what they call him in the book…."

James returned to the book, scowling a little.

"**I must go down to the dementors," said Dumbledore. "I said I would inform them when our search was complete."**

"**Didn't they want to help, sir?" said Percy.**

"**Oh yes," said Dumbledore coldly. "But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster."**

Teddy grimaced at the idea of the dementors being allowed to swoop around the castle. Harry didn't need to pass out again. And he really didn't want to hear any more of Harry's worst memories.

**Percy looked slightly abashed. Dumbledore left the hall, walking quickly and quietly. Snape stood for a moment, watching the headmaster with an expression of deep resentment on his face; then he too left.**

"He resents Dumbledore giving Remus a fair chance?" Rose asked incredulously. "Where would he be if Dumbledore hadn't given _him _a fair chance?"

"Apparently he was never friends with convicted murderers," James muttered.

**Harry glanced sideways at Ron and Hermione. Both of them had their eyes open too, reflecting the starry ceiling.**

"**What was all that about?" Ron mouthed.**

Rose sighed impatiently. She knew Harry and her parents couldn't possibly know what she and the others did, but it was frustrating to have so many questions and have to wait for the book to catch the three of them up to speed before they could get any answers.

**The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub.**

Fred and James howled with laughter at the mere suggestion.

"Well, she's closer than any of the others," Teddy managed between snorts of laughter.

"Oh, Hannah," Rose giggled.

"I miss her," Lily said once they'd finished laughing. "I think we should visit Uncle George and Aunt Angie and go see her."

"We just saw her at dinner two days ago," Albus reminded her.

"Not _properly_," Lily explained as if her brother were being exceptionally slow. "There were too many people and I was too busy thinking about _these_" – she indicated the book James was holding – "to really talk to her."

"It's a date then," Fred decided. "We'll ride the Knight Bus to London, pop in on Hannah and Neville and the girls, and tear up Diagon Alley"

He rubbed his hands together and grinned in a fashion that made the outing seem much more sinister than it sounded, which made James grin wickedly and Rose and Albus get nervous.

But before either one of them could put up a protest, James hurriedly read on.

**The Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat gray pony.**

The book slipped between James's fingers as he collapsed in laughter.

"What's so funny?" Hugo asked, grinning himself. None of them could quite keep a straight face watching James.

"Can – you – _imagine_ – the passwords he's going – to…" James didn't even finish the sentence, lost in thoughts about students being challenged to duels to get into the common room and sent on quests to find the password. Oh, what an entertaining year that would be.

It took a second or two for James to regain his composure, and when he did, he kept reading with a broad grin on his face. Maybe he was just clinging to anything that could make him laugh rather than worrying over lost Quidditch matches and imperiused namesakes, but James seemed to find the idea of Sir Cadogan guarding Gryffindor tower much more amusing than the others did. They were giving him strange looks out of the corners of their eyes.

**Nobody was very happy about this. **

That only made James snicker some more, and this time Fred joined in. He could sense chaos ensuing.

**Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day.**

"Excellent," James beamed as Fred laughed.

"**He's a complete lunatic," **

"That's the best kind of lunatic," Fred said sagely to several snorts.

**said Seamus Finnigan angrily to Percy. "Can't we get anyone else?"**

"**None of the other pictures wanted the job," said Percy. "Frightened of what happened to the Fat Lady. Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to volunteer."**

"I suppose Isadore's wolves aren't much use if they're only painted," Albus sighed, shaking his head. His portrait friend would have made an excellent guard. He was always going on about how boring it was stuck in a corner of the fifth floor….

**Sir Cadogan, however, was the least of Harry's worries. He was now being closely watched. Teachers found excuses to walk along corridors with him, and Percy Weasley (acting, Harry suspected, on his mother's orders) was tailing him everywhere like an extremely pompous guard dog. **

"Oh Merlin," Fred grimaced.

"Gran must be going mental after that," Rose sighed. "Especially after last year…."

"But they can't be on him every second!" James scowled, annoyed on his father's behalf. It would drive _him _mental if he were being babysat like that just walking down corridors. To the point where he would go everywhere under the invisibility cloak just to watch the teachers freak out when they couldn't find him.

"I suppose with Dad's track record they can never be too careful," Albus put in, but he looked gloomy, too.

**To cap it all, Professor McGonagall summoned Harry into her office, with such a somber expression on her face Harry thought someone must have died.**

"**There's no point hiding it from you any longer, Potter," she said in a very serious voice. "I know this will come as a shock to you, but Sirius Black —"**

"**I know he's after me," said Harry wearily. "I heard Ron's dad telling his mum. Mr. Weasley works for the Ministry of Magic."**

"Bet she wasn't expecting that," Scorpius said, lips twitching.

"Oh, I dunno," Fred chipped in thoughtfully, "I'm sure she's used to her students being bored when she informs them a supposed lunatic murderer – one of the worst kinds of lunatics, incidentally, though only ranked thirty-second out of thirty-thirty five in MAD Magazine – is after their blood."

"What?" James exclaimed.

"I know, I put my money on the bottom of the list for lunatic murderers, but apparently old ladies with more than thirty cats are not crowd favorites," Fred said, shaking his head in bewilderment.

"No," James said impatiently. He had been reading ahead. "Listen to this."

**Professor McGonagall seemed very taken aback. She stared at Harry for a moment or two, then said, "I see! Well, in that case, Potter, you'll understand why I don't think it's a good idea for you to be practicing Quidditch in the evenings. **

"No way," Albus said indignantly at the same time Fred swore under his breath.

"That's not fair!" Lily burst out.

"What, do they think Sirius is going to come swooping out of the sky, hit a few bludgers, and grab your dad?" Fred demanded.

James read on for answer, imitating McGonagall's voice in a rather mocking way out of anger.

**Out on the field with only your team members, it's very exposed, Potter —"**

"Like it or not, she's right," Teddy grimaced.

"But Sirius doesn't even have a broom!" James exclaimed.

"She doesn't know that," Teddy said patiently. "And besides, look how easy it is to target someone while they're in the air. Harry nearly got killed two years in a row during the first match. Can't you see where she's coming from?"

"But they can't take Quidditch away from Dad! What would be the point of going to school?"

"I think your priorities are a bit skewed," Rose told James, but he ignored her.

"James, you know they're just trying to keep him safe," Teddy went on.

"What, by keeping him prisoner?" James said furiously. "No Hogsmeade, no Quidditch, no privacy, next they're going to lock him in the dungeons with security trolls and say it's for his _safety_. No wonder they lose the first match if Dad can't practice."

Looking sour – and not the only one less than pleased with this new security measure – James returned to reading.

"**We've got our first match on Saturday!" said Harry, outraged. "I've got to train, Professor!"**

**Professor McGonagall considered him intently. **

"She cares almost as much about Gryffindor's chances as Wood does," Albus said hopefully. "She won't stop him from practicing. She can't!"

"But it's dangerous," Rose said uncertainly.

"No, it's not," James snapped, rolling his eyes.

"You don't know that for sure," Rose maintained. "If Sirius is imperiused there really is no telling what they might make him do. McGonagall loves Quidditch, but she wouldn't sacrifice her student's safety for the cup."

"Maybe she should consider his sanity," James muttered as he flipped the page.

**Harry knew she was deeply interested in the Gryffindor team's prospects; it had been she, after all, who'd suggested him as Seeker in the first place. He waited, holding his breath.**

"**Hmm . . ." Professor McGonagall stood up and stared out of the window at the Quidditch field, just visible through the rain.**

"Come on," Albus coaxed, closing his eyes and crossing his fingers.

Rose looked away from the rest of the boys and met Teddy's eyes. She loved Quidditch almost as much as they did, the rush of flying, the adrenalin of the game… it was something she would hate to have taken away from her. But not enough to risk her life over, to risk anyone's life over, and she could tell Teddy was thinking along the same lines. It was just… dangerous.

"**Well . . . goodness knows, I'd like to see us win the Cup at last . . . **

"Exactly," Fred murmured, nodding.

**but all the same, Potter . . . I'd be happier if a teacher were present. I'll ask Madam Hooch to oversee your training sessions."**

"Yes!' Albus, James and Fred exclaimed together. Lily even clapped her hands.

"Now maybe they could do that for Hogsmeade weekends…" James said hopefully, looking suddenly much more cheerful.

Teddy let out a relieved breath and Rose smiled. It was a good compromise. Sirius's escape was already encumbering his life too much as it was. And now Rose wouldn't have to fight with James and Fred about safety over pleasure. She hated being the wet blanket, contrary to popular belief, but she wasn't about to listen to them be angry with McGonagall for trying to protect her students.

**The weather worsened steadily as the first Quidditch match drew nearer. **

James paused to grimace. "That does not bode well."

**Undaunted, the Gryffindor team was training harder than ever under the eye of Madam Hooch. **

"Of course they were," Fred said approvingly. "Mum and Dad and Uncle Fred were on the team, Uncle Harry won't even let a threat on his life stop him practicing, and Oliver Wood was their captain. I reckon a hurricane could have blown over Hogwarts, and they'd still be out flying."

**Then, **

Just at that word, James's stomach sank. Here came the misfortune, the rotten luck, the whatever-it-was he'd been waiting for all chapter to explain the grim defeat. He gritted his teeth and read through the explanation.

**at their final training session before Saturday's match, Oliver Wood gave his team some unwelcome news.**

"**We're not playing Slytherin!" he told them, looking very angry.**

"But Gryffindor _always _plays Slytherin first," Rose said as though she were merely clearing up a confusion. "Always."

"Apparently not that year," said Scorpius.

"At least they won't lose to Malfoy and his team," Albus said, trying to look on the bright side.

"But they probably wouldn't have anyway," James said angrily. "They've been practicing for Slytherin! The other teams will play a lot differently, and they'll be at a disadvantage."

"What'd you expect?" Fred said bitterly. "Slytherin plays dirty."

"But how did they manage to switch it?" Albus asked.

Lily and Hugo turned their attention from one person to the next as though watching a match, listening interestedly to how the Hogwarts Quidditch season worked. It was much, much different from the casual tournaments they had with their cousins, even if those could get pretty intense. It scared Hugo a little because he knew Fred wanted him to join the team as a beater when Dominique left school in a few years, but Lily was fascinated. It would require and art and a skill to figure out a new opponent and adjust herself likewise. She could hardly wait.

James had returned to the book, looking for more information on the upcoming match, and they all listened intently.

"**Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."**

"**Why?" chorused the rest of the team.**

"**Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured," said Wood, grinding his teeth furiously. "But it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances. . . ."**

"Typical," Fred ground out. "Who wants to bet Malfoy takes the bandages off his arm the second the match is over?"

"Er, not to get myself killed here," Scorpius began hesitantly, "but my dad always says Quidditch strategy goes beyond the pitch. You know, lining yourself up right, measuring up your opponent…."

"People only say that when they know they aren't actually good enough to face off head-to-head," Fred told him.

Scorpius shrugged. It was probably true, but he couldn't deny that his father's strategy was giving him a good edge this time. It was hard to separate out what was fair and what was smart sometimes, especially when the advice came from his father, someone whom he trusted to teach him right from wrong. Or, at least, someone he _had _trusted.

**There had been strong winds and heavy rain all day, and as Wood spoke, they heard a distant rumble of thunder.**

"**There's **_**nothing wrong **_**with Malfoy's arm!" said Harry furiously. "He's faking it!"**

"**I know that, but we can't prove it," said Wood bitterly. **

"They _could _prove it," Fred grumbled.

"But that would most likely require sinking to the Slytherin team's level," Rose said sharply.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But it _could _be done…."

"**And we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory —"**

James caught his breath at the name. He hadn't been expecting it. Not here, not now. He raised his eyes to look at the others and could see by a few of their expressions th they felt the same way. A bit like missing a step going downstairs.

That name was always the first one listed on war memorials for the second war, it was what began any historical essay on the second war, and it was the first murmured toast the adults gave on May second. And in second year History of Magic, there were questions about him and his death.

The name had been burned into James's memory. It was the only thing that had really caught his attention in History of Magic. The first casualty. Rose had read countless essays and books, Fred and James had begun studying the war, and of course Teddy was part of the adults' toast. They knew that Cedric Diggory was the first casualty. The first murder of Voldemort's second reign of terror. So immortalized was he in that way that it had hardly crossed James's mind that he had once been a student in school. That he had been sorted into a house, played Quidditch, been a normal person just like himself.

But the rest didn't seem to be aware. Albus, Scorpius, Lily, and Hugo were all looking between the four of them with mixtures of bewilderment and apprehension on their faces.

"What is it?" Albus asked, catching the sadness in Rose's eyes and feeling his stomach turn to lead.

But she didn't answer at once. She was looking at her little brother, remembering the nightmares he already was having because of these books. What good would it do to tell him what had happened to Cedric, now. He would find out eventually, but she could only imagine the look that would cross his face when he found out what Cedric's fate was. It was different now that they were going to be reading about him, now that he would be as real as their parents and aunts and uncles. She couldn't bring herself to do that to him.  
>"Just, I've read that name before, Diggory. That family had some heavy losses in the war… he's probably lost a lot of family…." She said evasively.<p>

Fred gave her a sharp look, which she returned as sharply, hoping the others would follow her lead for now. It wasn't a lie. Not technically. And to her relief, Teddy nodded his affirmation. Hugo and Lily looked away, apparently satisfied with the answer.

But Albus and Scorpius were not. Albus slipped a scrap of parchment into Rose's hand and she blinked down at it. _Cedric Diggory doesn't have a happy ending, does he? _Was written in Scorpius's neat, flowing script. Rose looked at their expectant faces and shook her head sadly.

"I didn't realize he was so young," she whispered to them, the three of them huddling automatically closer together. "He couldn't have been much older than, what? Eighteen? Just out of school…."

"When did it happen?" Scorpius asked, shivering.

"The twenty-fourth of June, 1995," Rose answered at once, little more than mouthing the words. "A year and a half from then…."

She trailed off, swallowing hard as she wondered what poor stroke of fate put that boy in the wrong place at the wrong time. These books were making it difficult to look at the past as simply the past. Knowing every detail, exactly why and how things ended up the way they did, it made Rose feel that if one thing were different, if Ginny hadn't been in Diagon Alley the same day as Lucius Malfoy in the last book, if Harry had lead run a different way the night they ran into Fluffy, if Cedric were running a little late, that things would be so much different.

No one had said anything in at least a minute. They were all looking at James, expecting him to pick up the book again. But he didn't want to. A cold feeling settled in his stomach when he looked down at the print, at the thought of reading about the small triumphs and falls in the ordinary life of a boy who would be dead in less than two years. It was different reading about his uncle, or Teddy's father, somehow. They had always been real people to him. Cedric Diggory had hardly been more than a name, a symbol.

A breeze ruffled the leaves above his head, and James looked up into their green shadows. If James wanted to know the whole story, he would have to know about Cedric, about the ordinary, probably-happy life he had had and how it had occasionally crossed paths with that of James's parents and family. Maybe then he would understand a little more of the pain in their eyes when they murmured his name along with all the others James didn't recognize or remember.

Teddy was watching him steadily. James thought Teddy was guessing his thoughts.

"It must have been really bad," Lily observed, looking at the others' downcast faces, a crease forming between her brows. "Like the Bones. Mummy said they had little kids…."

No one answered her, but she didn't seem to be looking for a response.

"You want me to read, Jamie?" he murmured.

James took a deep breath and shook his head. He cleared his throat, picked up the book, and began reading as though he had never stopped, as if Cedric Diggory were any other student who had once gone to school with their parents, as if they weren't all thinking of the elegant script in which his name was now engraved near the top of the statue in the Ministry's atrium.

**Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled.**

Giggling suddenly seemed like the strangest thing to Rose, even though she herself had been doing it only a few minutes James was reading as though there were no somber note in the story hanging over Cedric Diggory's name. Maybe so they could get to know him without the tragedy they all knew was coming for him. So that they could still giggle when things were funny and not be lost in sad silence for a boy they would only meet on these few pages of a greater story.

"**What?" said Wood, frowning at this lighthearted behavior.**

"**He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" said Angelina.**

Fred made a face. "Mum, you're taken."

"Not yet," Lily pointed out, but Fred only shook his head. "No, she was definitely taken, even if she didn't know it yet."

"**Strong and silent," said Katie, and they started to giggle again.**

"Girls," Hugo sighed, shaking his head.

"You know you love us," Rose said sweetly, batting her eyes.

Hugo stuck out his tongue, and she remembered what it was like to giggle again.

"**He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," said Fred impatiently. "I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?"**

"That was wicked," James paused to say, closing his eyes to recall the description of that particular match.

"But you shouldn't underestimate your opponent," Albus added quietly, tracing the pattern of the blanket with his fingers.

"**We were playing in completely different conditions!" Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. "Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We **_**must **_**win!"**

"I think Oliver agrees with you, Al," Fred said, winking.

"**Oliver, calm down!" said Fred, looking slightly alarmed. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. **_**Seriously.**_**"**

"Coming from him, that either means very little or quite a lot," Rose said thoughtfully.

"I think it's one of those moments where it's quite a lot," Fred told her. "Although I can understand your difficulty in telling. But Dad never jokes about Quidditch… unless it's _really _funny. So I'd guess Uncle Fred would be the same."

**The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. The Slytherin team was looking very smug indeed, and none more so than Malfoy.**

"**Ah, if only my arm was feeling a bit better!" he sighed as the gale outside pounded the windows.**

"Little twerp," Fred added lightly.

**Harry had no room in his head to worry about anything except the match tomorrow. Oliver Wood kept hurrying up to him between classes and giving him tips. The third time this happened, Wood talked for so long that Harry suddenly realized he was ten minutes late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, **

"If you do that when your captain, I'm staging a coup," Fred told James.

"What if your captain?" James asked.

"I'm not obsessed enough to be captain," Fred said unconcernedly. "Besides, then I'd have to, like, yell at people and stuff. Definitely your gig."

"I don't yell at people," James said indignantly.

Fred began ticking names off on his fingers,"Rose, Al, Bennit, your missing bunny slipper –"

"Well, he should know by now to stick to the buddy system!" James said defensively.

"Maybe, but you'll just keep scaring him away until you find a gentler way to tell him," Fred said with exaggerated patience.

Rose cleared her throat.

"Anyway, my point is you yell more than I do, hence the badge is yours," Fred finished.

"Unless it doesn't go to either of you two," Teddy felt the need to put in.

They looked at each other, then simultaneously burst out laughing.

"You're a riot, Ted," James told him with a cheeky grin.

**and set off at a run with Wood shouting after him, "Diggory's got a very fast swerve, Harry, so you might want to try looping him —"**

**Harry skidded to a halt outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, pulled the door open, and dashed inside.**

"At least it's Defense Against the Dark Arts," Teddy said. "Dad won't be to upset, I don't think."

"**Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I —"**

**But it wasn't Professor Lupin who looked up at him from the teacher's desk; it was Snape.**

James swore. Al winced. Teddy grimaced. Scorpius looked confused.

"Why –?" he began, but James quickly kept reading.

"**This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down."**

"Arse," James muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Seriously, what's he doing teaching Defense?" Scorpius asked.

"Dad's probably, er, ill," Teddy said quickly.

"Bet Snape's thrilled," Albus muttered. "Gets what he always wanted for a day or two."

**But Harry didn't move.**

"**Where's Professor Lupin?" he said.**

"**He says he is feeling too ill to teach today," said Snape with a twisted smile. "I believe I told you to sit down?"**

**But Harry stayed where he was.**

"Obstinate behavior always takes you far," Fred nodded. "Though in which direction it's usually too hard to tell until your there…."

"**What's wrong with him?"**

**Snape's black eyes glittered.**

"**Nothing life-threatening," he said, looking as though he wished it were. "Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be fifty."**

"_Arse_!" James said again, more emphatically. "Didn't even wait for an explanation."

**Harry walked slowly to his seat and sat down. Snape looked around at the class.**

"**As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far —"**

Teddy frowned. No one had ever said it in so many words, but from everything he'd heard and read so far, his father seemed like the organized type. A bit like Hermione, really, though he hoped not quite so specific that cutlery would have to be kept in alphabetical order. It seemed strange that he wouldn't leave any notes, especially if he'd known he would need a substitute.

"**Please, sir, we've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and grindylows," said Hermione quickly, "and we're just about to start —"**

"**Be quiet," said Snape coldly. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization."**

Hugo scowled. So did Teddy, James, and many of the others.

"If you don't want to know what they're studying, why does it matter if there're no notes?" Hugo demanded, crossing his arms.

"**He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," said Dean Thomas boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the class. **

Teddy smirked slightly. At least the class was there to stick up for his father.

**Snape looked more menacing than ever.**

"**You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you — I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and grindylows. Today we shall discuss —"**

**Harry watched him flick through the textbook, to the very back chapter, which he must know they hadn't covered.**

James swore again under his breath before reading the next line.

"— **werewolves," said Snape.**

"Bastard," Fred muttered as Teddy ground his teeth.

"What third years know anything about werewolves?" Scorpius asked. "Isn't that, like, advanced?"

"Yeah, it is," Albus said in the low voice Scorpius knew meant he was angry. He had rarely heard it from Al before these books.

Scorpius glanced over at Rose to see that her ears had gone read. Across the circle, Lily's eyes were flashing in the way that he had quickly learned meant danger. Or at least would mean danger when she got a bit bigger and learned how to cast hexes. Why were they all so upset? Snape was purposefully making Teddy's dad out to be a bad teacher, but honestly, what had they expected from him? He shook his head slightly as James kept reading.

"**But, sir," said Hermione, seemingly unable to restrain herself,**

"Sounds familiar," James couldn't stop himself form muttering, glancing at Rose.

"**we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks —"**

"**Miss Granger," said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394." He glanced around again."**_**All **_**of you! **_**Now**_**!"**

**With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering, the class opened their books.**

"**Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" said Snape.**

**Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except Hermione, **

"Didn't see that one coming," Fred said sarcastically.

**whose hand, as it so often did, had shot straight into the air.**

"**Anyone?" Snape said, ignoring Hermione. His twisted smile was back. "Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between —"**

"**We told you," said Parvati suddenly, "we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on —"**

"_**Silence**_**!" snarled Snape. "Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are. . . ."**

"I'll bet you will," Teddy growled.

"That's not fair!" Lily burst out, seemingly unable to keep quiet any longer. "Dumbledore will know what tricks he's up to, Teddy, don't worry. "

A smile flickered across Teddy's face. "Yeah, I know, bud."

"**Please, sir," said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air, "the werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The snout of the werewolf —"**

"**That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger," said Snape coolly. "Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."**

**Hermione went very red, put down her hand, and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears. **

"Now that's uncalled for," Teddy said in quiet disapproval.

"Uncalled for?" Rose asked furiously as Lily sputtered indignantly. "Teacher's _shouldn't make fun of their students_!"

Hugo had gone very red. "He's – I would – that's a jerk thing to say!" he burst out finally, scrambling to find words. "He's a bastard!"

"Hugo," Rose reprimanded automatically, glaring at Fred.

"But he is!" Hugo fumed and Rose didn't bother to refute the point, angry as she was.

James shook his head. "The only people who are allowed to call know-it-alls know-it-alls are their friends, siblings, or the peers they subject to know-it-all-ness. Otherwise it's a cheap shot. Merlin, what kind of teacher actively bullies their _students_?"

"Dumbledore better have a good reason for keeping him around!" Rose bit out.

_Dad better have a good reason for naming me after him,_ Albus thought.

**It was a mark of how much the class loathed Snape that they were all glaring at him, because every one of them had called Hermione a know-it-all at least once, and Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-it-all at least twice a week, **

A small laugh escaped Rose through her outrage. Albus flashed a cautious grin at her, which she returned. How quickly things changed with a common enemy.

**said loudly, "You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?"**

"That's what I said," Hugo said, nodding his head so hard his bangs fluttered.

"Ooo, but it's going to cost him dearly," Fred said with a strange expression between a smirk and a wince.

**The class knew instantly he'd gone too far. Snape advanced on Ron slowly, and the room held its breath.**

"**Detention, Weasley," Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron's. "And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed."**

"Worth it," Scorpius decided.

Rose cast him a sideways look. "You think so? Snape still won and Dad didn't even get to swear at him."

"I thought you didn't like swearing," Fred said, eyes widening in a shocked expression.

"I don't like you swearing around my little brother and corrupting him," she told him before turning back to Scorpius. "What did Dad get that was worth detention?"

Scorpius shrugged. "It's always worth defending your friends. I'd take the detention if a teacher made you cry."

"Yeah?" Rose asked, tipping her chin up and scrutinizing him with bright blue eyes. "Good to know because I would, too, but I thought it was just because I'm stubborn."

Scorpius shook his head and Rose smiled.

Albus cleared his throat. "I would, too, if anyone cares."

"Even if it means going into the forest?" Scorpius asked slyly.

Albus gulped, but said decisively, "Yes. Even then."

James snorted, but Scorpius threw an arm around his friend's shoulders.

"Now that this little love fest is over," James said, raising the book pointedly. He wouldn't admit. Not ever in a million years. Not even to himself. But he was just a little bit jealous of the loyalty his little brother had for his friends. Albus wouldn't go into the forest for James. Of course, James did everything he could to make Al think the feeling was mutual, but somewhere inside him he knew that wasn't the case.

Moving past these dangerously protective brotherly thoughts, he kept reading.

**No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook, while Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work they had been doing with Professor Lupin.**

"**Very poorly explained . . . That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia. . . . **

"Um, no it's not," Teddy said. "It's a Japanese creature."

"Ooo, Snape got a question wrong," Fred stage-whispered.

**Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three. . . ."**

"But you like to fail people for the fun of it," Fred told the book as though explaining something simple to a petulant child.

**When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back. **

"**You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention."**

"He can't give homework," James said indignantly. "He's a _substitute_."

Teddy nodded, staring down at the grass tickling his left palm. He seemed calm, but inside a storm seemed to be ricocheting around. Snape had assigned his father's students an essay on how to recognize and _kill _him. Why the hell had Harry named his kid after this man? It would be much harder to maintain his defense after this.

**Harry and Hermione left the room with the rest of the class, who waited until they were well out of earshot, then burst into a furious tirade about Snape.**

"**Snape's never been like this with any of our other Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, even if he did want the job," Harry said to Hermione. "Why's he got it in for Lupin? D'you think this is all because of the boggart?"**

"No, but that didn't exactly help things," Albus said ruefully.

"**I don't know," said Hermione pensively. "But I really hope Professor Lupin gets better soon. . . ."**

"I think everyone barring Snape does," Fred grumbled. Merlin he was glad he never had Snape for a teacher.

**Ron caught up with them five minutes later, in a towering rage.**

"**D'you know what that —" (he called Snape something that made Hermione say "**_**Ron**_**!") "— is making me do? I've got to scrub out the bedpans in the hospital wing. **_**Without magic**_**!" **

Fred sucked in a breath. "Ooo, harsh."

**He was breathing deeply, his fists clenched. "Why couldn't Black have hidden in Snape's office, eh? He could have finished him off for us!"**

"That's what _I _said!" James exclaimed. "Sometimes I think Ron and I should be the ones making decisions around here."

Rose shuddered. "That would be an unqualified disaster."

**Harry woke extremely early the next morning; so early that it was still dark. For a moment he thought the roaring of the wind had woken him. Then he felt a cold breeze on the back of his neck and sat bolt upright — Peeves the Poltergeist had been floating next to him, blowing hard in his ear.**

"I _hate _it when he does that!" Albus exclaimed with sudden anger. "He does it all the time!"

Fred sniggered and Albus narrowed his eyes at him. His cousin whistled innocently, looking over the top of Albus's head.

"You put him up to that, don't you?" he asked Fred suspiciously.

"I've no idea what you're talking about dear cousin."

"You do! Was the pink toilet paper you too?"

Fred choked on a laugh. "He toilet papered you?" he asked, a look of delight spreading across his face.

"Er, just my four poster," Albus mumbled, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut.  
>Fred and James burst out laughing. Even Teddy seemed unable to suppress a smirk. "Tough luck, mate," he said, clapping Al on the back.<p>

"How come we never heard about that?" Rose asked, trying not to laugh, too.

"Well, we still didn't like Scorpius when it happened ("Hey!") and Eric helped me get it all down before McLaggen and his lackeys got up," Albus explained, flushing a bit.

"I need to congratulate Peeves on that one," Fred said, still grinning broadly. "Maybe I can give him something to make it stick for next time…"

"If you do that, Fred, I'll – I'll –"

"Wave your finger at me?"

"Set Rose on you."

"I feel like I'm being used," Rose commented as Fred pretended to shudder.

James reluctantly returned to the book, snickering a bit.

"**What did you do that for?" said Harry furiously.**

"Somebody probably paid him off," Albus grumbled.

**Peeves puffed out his cheeks, blew hard, and zoomed backward out of the room, cackling.**

**Harry fumbled for his alarm clock and looked at it. It was half past four. Cursing Peeves, he rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, but it was very difficult, now that he was awake, to ignore the sounds of the thunder rumbling overhead, the pounding of the wind against the castle walls, and the distant creaking of the trees in the Forbidden Forest. In a few hours he would be out on the Quidditch field, battling through that gale. Finally, he gave up any thought of more sleep, got up, dressed, picked up his Nimbus Two Thousand, and walked quietly out of the dormitory.**

**As Harry opened the door, something brushed against his leg. He bent down just in time to grab Crookshanks by the end of his bushy tail and drag him outside.**

"Evil cat," Lily muttered.

"**You know, I reckon Ron was right about you," Harry told Crookshanks suspiciously. "There are plenty of mice around this place — go and chase them. Go on," he added, nudging Crookshanks down the spiral staircase with his foot. "Leave Scabbers alone."**

Lily nodded her approval of this plan.

**The noise of the storm was even louder in the common room. Harry knew better than to think the match would be canceled; Quidditch matches weren't called off for trifles like thunderstorms.**

"Never,' Fred said solemnly with a hand over his heart.

**Nevertheless, he was starting to feel very apprehensive. Wood had pointed out Cedric Diggory to him in the corridor; Diggory was a fifth year **

James didn't pause or stumble over Cedric Diggory's name, but Rose was caught off guard. The math practically did itself in her head. He would only have been at the end of his sixth year… not even close to done with school yet….

**and a lot bigger than Harry. Seekers were usually light and speedy, **

"Uncle Charlie's hardly light and speedy, and he's a brilliant Seeker, too," Hugo chipped in.

"Mum says Uncle Charlie could dance ballet if he wanted to, that's how graceful he used to be," Lily giggled.

A few of the boys snorted, picturing their broad, muscular uncle in a leotard, pirouetting.

**but Diggory's weight would be an advantage in this weather because he was less likely to be blown off course.**

"That can be a problem," Scorpius agreed. "I got blown into a tree once," he grimaced.

"Oh, that explains your face," Fred said faking sudden comprehension. "I've been wondering, but I thought it might be tactless to ask…."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. He rather liked it when Al and Rose's cousins teased him He didn't have any cousins of his own to tease him after all.

**Harry whiled away the hours until dawn in front of the fire, getting up every now and then to stop Crookshanks from sneaking up the boys' staircase again. At long last Harry thought it must be time for breakfast, so he headed through the portrait hole alone.**

"**Stand and fight, you mangy cur!" yelled Sir Cadogan.**

James grinned at the mention of the knight.

"**Oh, shut up," Harry yawned.**

**He revived a bit over a large bowl of porridge, and by the time he'd started on toast, the rest of the team had turned up.**

"**It's going to be a tough one," said Wood, who wasn't eating anything.**

"**Stop worrying, Oliver," said Alicia soothingly, "we don't mind a bit of rain."**

**But it was considerably more than a bit of rain. Such was the popularity of Quidditch that the whole school turned out to watch the match as usual,**

"Their devotion may be the most beautiful thing I've heard of," Fred said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

**but they ran down the lawns toward the Quidditch field, heads bowed against the ferocious wind, umbrellas being whipped out of their hands as they went. Just before he entered the locker room, Harry saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, laughing and pointing at him from under an enormous umbrella on their way to the stadium.**

Scorpius sighed impatiently.

**The team changed into their scarlet robes and waited for Wood's usual pre-match pep talk, but it didn't come. He tried to speak several times, made an odd gulping noise, **

"I think they've broken him," James commented.

**then shook his head hopelessly and beckoned them to follow him.**

**The wind was so strong that they staggered sideways as they walked out onto the field. If the crowd was cheering, they couldn't hear it over the fresh rolls of thunder. **

"But that's the best part," James said in mild disappointment. He was not excited about reading this match. The first Quidditch match he could remember not being excited over. Between the weather and the switching teams, it was not such a surprise that Gryffindor lost, but it still disappointed him that his father had lost a match (and not been injured trying to save the world).

**Rain was splattering over Harry's glasses. How on earth was he going to see the Snitch in this?**

Albus grimaced. "Those _are _the worst conditions. It's impossible to see out of glasses in the rain! Much less find the snitch. I can see why they lost this one," he added glumly.

"Maybe they didn't lose," Fred said hopefully, and when he received seven skeptical looks forged on. "Well, 'grim defeat' could mean anything! Maybe Uncle Harry actually defeated the Grim. If we learned anything from the whole Snape thing last book it's that whoever actually wrote this likes to mislead us with the wording."

"I think you're just in denial that your parents and namesake could lose a match," James said, but he looked a bit more hopeful.

Fred shrugged. "Until it says they've lost, I'm going to root for a win."

"It would be next to miraculous if Dad could catch the snitch in this weather," Albus said dubiously.

"Yeah, but Dad's the youngest seeker in a century," Lily reminded him confidently. "He's better than you are, Al. I bet he could do it."

"Thanks, Lil," Albus muttered, rolling his eyes.

His sister merely shrugged and flashed him a beatific smile. He knew she loved him.

**The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. **

"Intimidating as ever," Fred said sarcastically.

Lily gave him a disapproving look. "Hannah was in Hufflepuff."

"And look how intimidating she is," said James.

"You don't have to be intimidating to kick arse at Quidditch," Teddy said because his mother had been a Hufflepuff and so had many of his friends from school. And they _had _kicked arse on the pitch. At least against Teddy. Fly he could. Catch things he could not.

"You're on the wrong side, Teddy," James informed him impatiently. "Don't you want Dad to win?"

Teddy held up his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying…."

Shaking his head in disappointment, James read on.

**The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands; Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood now looked as though he had lockjaw and merely nodded. **

"He seems nice," Lily said approvingly.

Teddy, Fred, James, and Rose nodded in melancholy agreement. It was rare for captains to be so amiable before a game, even if they got on well. Which made Cedric a rare sort of captain.

**Harry saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, "Mount your brooms." He pulled his right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over his Nimbus Two Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant — they were off.**

In spite of himself, James couldn't help the rush of excitement those words brought in him. There was _nothing _like that rush of takeoff before the first game of the season. He had felt it only once so far in his school career, and had yet to match that exhilaration with anything. He couldn't wait until November….

Albus, however, felt a rush of apprehension and nerves at the words, not least because it didn't seem like this match ended well for his father. He had never played in a thunderstorm before. Rain? Absolutely. But they had always been told to come in if it started thundering and lightening. James complained about it every time, and once their mother had grabbed Albus's broom and actually had to drag James back to the ground, but Albus was already heading for the ground as fast as he could when it started lightening. He had had nightmares about being trapped in the sky in vicious storms like this. What was he going to do if he ever had play a match at school in weather like this? Disappoint his cousins, probably, he thought glumly as he listened to the new animation in his brother's voice as he read.

**Harry rose fast, but his Nimbus was swerving slightly with the wind. He held it as steady as he could and turned, squinting into the rain.**

**Within five minutes Harry was soaked to his skin and frozen, hardly able to see his teammates, let alone the tiny Snitch. He flew backward and forward across the field past blurred red and yellow shapes, with no idea of what was happening in the rest of the game.**

"That's not a good thing; he might catch the snitch while they're too far behind to win," Scorpius said, slipping into strategy-mode easily. Rose could tell by the look in his eyes that he was seeing the pitch and the game and the players by their probable capability. It was the same look her father got when he contemplated a chess board. Scorpius may not have thought he was Head Boy material, but he had a good shot at Quidditch Captain when they got older.

"Are you doubting Wood's wicked Keeper skills?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow menacingly.

"No, of course not," Scorpius said quickly, looking apprehensive.

Fred snorted and broke out into a grin. "You're too easy to mess with, kid."

**He couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Twice Harry came very close to being unseated by a Bludger; his vision was so clouded by the rain on his glasses he hadn't seen them coming.**

"That's got to hurt," Rose said sympathetically. "Ugh, this is just not looking good at all, is it?"

"Uncle Harry's known for coming out ahead in situations like this, though," Fred persisted. "This is exactly when he pulls some awesome stunt or something and comes out on top and everybody's impressed. I mean, who would have expected him to catch the snitch in his first match when his broom was trying to buck him off?"

James hoped very much that Fred's optimism would prove correct. A win in Quidditch would be an excellent pick-me-up after the whole Sirius-really-is-attempting-to-murder-my-father-even-if-it's-not-of-his-own-volition thing that, as much as he hated to admit it, was making more and more sense the more he thought about it. The only alternative he could come up with for Sirius murdering thirteen people was not painting the man in a very good light, after all. But then rose the question of is someone still guilty if they were _forced _to do something awful?

To avoid thinking about this, he dove back into the fast-paced world of Quidditch that he could understand, fraught with all the right kinds of danger and adversaries.

**He lost track of time. It was getting harder and harder to hold his broom straight. The sky was getting darker, as though night had decided to come early. Twice Harry nearly hit another player, without knowing whether it was a teammate or opponent; everyone was now so wet, and the rain so thick, he could hardly tell them apart. . . .**

**With the first flash of lightning came the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle; Harry could just see the outline of Wood through the thick rain, gesturing him to the ground. **

"They're not calling off the match, are they?" Hugo wondered, not sure if he should be disappointed or relieved.

" 'Course not," James said dismissively. "They don't cancel Quidditch. Unless petrified students are piling up in the hospital wing, that is, and Dad, Ron, and Hermione took care of that problem last year."

It was the first really successful attempt at making light of the events of the last book, which was saying something, but most of them were too wrapped up in the match and why Wood was calling a time-out to think much of it.

**The whole team splashed down into the mud. **

"**I called for time-out!" Wood roared at his team. "Come on, under here —"**

**They huddled at the edge of the field under a large umbrella; Harry took off his glasses and wiped them hurriedly on his robes.**

"**What's the score?"**

"**We're fifty points up,"**

"Yes!" Fred said, voice charged with enthusiasm as he quickly pumped a fist.

**said Wood, "but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night."**

"**I've got no chance with these on," Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses.**

**At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his shoulder; **

"Hermione to the rescue," Albus grinned. Before these books he had often wondered if there was any problem his aunt couldn't solve. From rescuing baby birds trapped down vents to getting Drooble's best blowing gum (_James's_ gum) out of his hair without cutting it all off, his aunt was the master of fixing things. After the potions riddle from the first book and the Basilisk discover in the last one, Albus was convinced that, given the time, his aunt could figure anything out.

**She was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming.**

"Yup, she's come to fix everything," Fred said excitedly. "Probably going to whip out her wand and send the storm clouds running for cover."

"**I've had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!"**

**He handed them to her, and as the team watched in amazement, Hermione tapped them with her wand and said, "**_**Impervius**_**!"**

"**There!" she said, handing them back to Harry. "They'll repel water!"**

"Or that will work, too," Fred nodded.

"You have to learn that," Albus said, turning to Rose.

"Why me? I'm not the one with glasses," she said, but she was smiling.  
>Albus rolled his eyes. "Well, I'll end up breaking my glasses if I try it. You know what I'm like at Charms."<p>

Scorpius sniggered and Albus shot him a look over his shoulder which only made him snigger more.

"It was only one time," Rose told him reassuringly.

"All the same, I'll never be able to learn it like you will."

Rose shook her head, but they could all tell Albus had won her over.

**Wood looked as though he could have kissed her.**

Hugo, Rose, and Fred all looked highly uncomfortable with this description.

"No way," Albus and James said at the same time, making almost identical faces of disgust. Teddy hid a smirk.

"That's one way to get on Wood's good side, then," he chortled.

"**Brilliant!" he called hoarsely after her as she disappeared into the crowd. "Okay, team, let's go for it!"**

**Hermione's spell had done the trick. **

"It always does," Albus said fervently.

**Harry was still numb with cold, still wetter than he'd ever been in his life, but he could see. Full of fresh determination, he urged his broom through the turbulent air, staring in every direction for the Snitch, avoiding a Bludger, ducking beneath Diggory, who was streaking in the opposite direction. . . .**

"See?" Fred said excitedly. "They'll pull it off! He can see probably better than the rest of the players now."

**There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning. This was getting more and more dangerous. Harry needed to get the Snitch quickly —**

"No kidding," Rose said, looking a might anxious. She loved playing in the rain, the added challenge. But this _was _getting dangerous. The sooner Harry could catch the snitch and lock a win, the better.

**He turned, intending to head back toward the middle of the field, but at that moment, another flash of lightning illuminated the stands, and Harry saw something that distracted him completely —**

"No, don't get distracted!" Fred chided, wringing his hands. "Focus on the game! There's nothing of interest in the stands!"

"And here I thought James had the corner on Quidditch obsession," Rose said, scrutinizing Fred's tense expression.

"He's too busy reading, so I thought I'd take over for a while," Fred shrugged.

**the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats.**

Rose paled. Lily's mouth gaped slightly. Teddy sat up straighter. James gripped the book harder.

"That's Sirius!" Hugo exclaimed, pointing out what they had all already figured out.

"What's he doing there?" Albus demanded.

"Maybe he just wanted to see Dad play," James said quickly and hurriedly continued reading.

**Harry's numb hands slipped on the broom handle and his Nimbus dropped a few feet. **

"Don't fall off!" Lily squealed.

**Shaking his sodden bangs out of his eyes, he squinted back into the stands. The dog had vanished.**

"What's he playing at?" Rose said tensely.

"Nothing," James insisted stubbornly. "Sirius just escaped from Azkaban and thought he'd look up his godson while he was on the run."

"It's more than that," Teddy said quietly, pensively. "But none of it makes sense! Why would he slash up the Fat Lady's portrait? Why would he show up in the middle of a Quidditch match in a stadium full of people? Where's he going now? One minute it seems like he's really insane, the next, I dunno…."

James groaned and everybody looked at him.  
>"What's the matter?"<p>

For answer, James read the next few lines in a defeated sort of voice.

"**Harry!" came Wood's anguished yell from the Gryffindor goal posts. "Harry, behind you!"**

Albus wildly imagined Sirius's knife flying through the storm like an arrow at his father's back and clenches his fists so tightly the nails dug into his palm.

**Harry looked wildly around. Cedric Diggory was pelting up the field, and a tiny speck of gold was shimmering in the rain-filled air between them —**

Albus's fear melted into a strange mixture of relief and let down.

"No!" Fred exploded, flinging himself backwards in frustration and disappointment. Lily patted the top of his head gingerly.

"He could still catch up," Teddy tried to put in hopefully, but James read on in the same gloomy tone.

**With a jolt of panic, Harry threw himself flat to the broomhandle and zoomed toward the Snitch.**

"**Come on!" he growled at his Nimbus as the rain whipped his face. "**_**Faster**_**!"**

"I'm sure it's going as fast as it can, Dad," Lily said. "Maybe if you'd been paying attention…."

James looked up from the book to give her a rare look of annoyance. Lily sniffed. "Well, It's not his broom's fault, is it?"

Her brothers shared an exasperated look and James kept reading.

**But something odd was happening. An eerie silence was falling across the stadium. **

James's tone and expression shifted from disappointed to anxious.

Fred sat up, thoughts of the game fading.

"What is it?" Rose all but whispered.

_Not what I'm thinking, please not what I'm thinking_, Teddy chanted in his head. That couldn't happen here, now….

**The wind, though as strong as ever, was forgetting to roar. It was as though someone had turned off the sound, as though Harry had gone suddenly deaf — what was going on?**

"What's happened?" Lily demanded, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Did he, like, get hit by a bludger without noticing or something?" Scorpius wondered, brows knitting together.

"I hope so," Teddy said under his breath, but part of him already knew what was coming.

**And then a horribly familiar wave of cold swept over him, inside him, **

James swallowed hard. A knot had formed in his throat. They couldn't be there now. He wasn't going to read about _that…_

Cold dread spilled into Albus's stomach. This was bad. This was very, very bad. If anything like what happened on the train happened again….Rose gripped his elbow tightly.

"Dementors," Hugo whimpered, turning wide eyes to meet Lily's across the circle.

Teddy groaned softly and buried his face in his hands.

James took a steadying breath and forced himself to keep reading.

**just as he became aware of something moving on the field below. . . .**

Fred swore under his breath. Scorpius felt his stomach drop. Of all the places Harry could run into dementors again, this might just be the worst. He could only hope that Harry was too far above the ground for their effects to reach him properly.

**Before he'd had time to think, Harry had taken his eyes off the Snitch and looked down.**

**At least a hundred dementors, their hidden faces pointing up at him, were standing beneath him. **

"Oh, Merlin," Rose said faintly.

"A hundred?" Albus choked out.

Scorpius's eyes had widened. Lily tucked herself under Teddy's arm, but he didn't raise his face from his hands. Hugo slid closer to his sister, gripped the hem of her shirt.

"Want me to read, Jamie?" Fred murmured.

James mouthed soundlessly for a second, then swallowed again and shook his head. No. He would read whatever was coming. If he thought he could handle knowing, he ought to be able to read it himself.

**It was as though freezing water were rising in his chest, cutting at his insides. **

James faltered again, and Teddy clenched his fingers in his hair. This was not normal, whatever kept happening to Harry around these things. They weren't supposed to make you feel as though you were suffocating. It scared him to hear about it.

**And then he heard it again. . . . Someone was screaming, **

Albus felt Rose's grip tighten on his elbow, Scorpius's shoulder press against his. They had all instinctively drawn closer together, faces serious and scared, as though they were all plunging into the wild sea side-by-side.

They were all wondering who was screaming and why and all to terrified that they were about to find out.

**screaming inside his head . . . a woman . . .**

James's chest constricted as he saw the words that followed. Oh God. No, he couldn't read this. He couldn't give voice to this. But somehow he found himself forcing it out though his tight throat.

"_**Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry**_**!"**

"_**Stand aside, you silly girl **_**. . . **_**stand aside, now. **_**. . ."**

"_**Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead **_**—"**

James's vision blurred slightly, the print before him was jerking uncontrollably, and he realized it was because he was shaking. Fred gripped his shoulder hard, tried to slide the book out of his grip, but James gripped it even tighter, pulled it away. He'd signed up for this. He was going to read it even if it felt like the words were drowning _him_.

Teddy had raised his head finally, was staring with wild eyes at the book in James's hands, gripping Lily's shoulders tightly as she burrowed into his side once more. Albus had curled up on himself, face buried in his folded arms. Rose and Scorpius sat protectively on either side of him, but he still seemed small and all alone.

**Numbing, swirling white mist was filling Harry's brain. . . . What was he doing? Why was he flying? He needed to help her. . . . **

_You can't _Teddy thought, something panging in his chest. He knew who it was even before James read the next part.

**She was going to die. . . . **

James's voice seemed to shatter on the word, and the next part hardly sounded like him at all.

**She was going to be murdered. . . .**

Hugo gave an involuntary squeak. Rose put her arm around his shoulders. This was no close-call, no adrenalin-filled scrape and escape. These were a woman's dying words. These were Harry's mother's dying words that his son was now reading allowed for the first time since they had been spoken thirty-six years before…. A sick feeling was rising in her.

**He was falling, falling through the icy mist.**

"Shite," Fred breathed. Seekers flew the highest as a general rule. And with the wind, the rain, the dementors on the field, a slight, tumbling body would not be an easy thing to spot….

Teddy was utterly white now.

"_**Not Harry**_**! **_**Please **_**. . . **_**have mercy **_**. . . **_**have mercy. **_**. . ."**

**A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was screaming, and Harry knew no more.**

"What happened?" Rose burst out, and though her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper, it seemed loud in the hush.

"He must have passed out again and… and fallen," Teddy croaked.

"Keep going," Hugo said urgently to his cousin, but James seemed a bit out-of-sorts. He was breathing a little too harshly and a little too unevenly for someone simply sitting under a tree reading a book.

Again, Fred tried to take the book and James resisted.

"Come on, Jamie, I'll finish up," he murmured. "You read the rest of it. You read the tough part. I'll just finish up, okay?"

Slowly, he coaxed the book out of James's hands, took a deep, slightly shaky breath, and started reading.

"**Lucky the ground was so soft."**

"**I thought he was dead for sure."**

"**But he didn't even break his glasses."**

"He's okay. Of course he's okay," Rose muttered, squeezing Albus's elbow painfully tight.

"Maybe he wasn't up very high," Hugo reasoned.

"It must've been pretty high if they thought he was dead," Scorpius said in higher voice than normal. Rose shot him a look that plainly told him to shut up.

**Harry could hear the voices whispering, but they made no sense whatsoever. He didn't have a clue where he was, or how he'd got there, or what he'd been doing before he got there. All he knew was that every inch of him was aching as though it had been beaten.**

"Maybe he _was _up there, then," Hugo said anxiously.

Teddy was biting his lips hard. Lily was huddled in his arms making little squeaky noises now and then. Of course Harry was fine… or at least would be… he hoped. But all the same, it did not bode well. _What _did the dementors do to him? It seemed like more than just forcing him to relive… well, _that_. He quickly back-paddled from those thoughts. It made him sick. The whole thing made him sick, actually. And anger was beginning to burn again. Dementors at a school! Keeping him safe my arse! They nearly got Harry _killed, _he thought.

"**That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."**

"I'll bet," Rose murmured emphatically. She tried to imagine what it would be like to watch one of her friends or cousins tumbling through the air at break-neck speed, but didn't get very far. She thought her heart might just stop all together if that happened.

"It must have been bad then," Teddy murmured, trying not to picture it. It was too easy to see Al or James smacking into the ground with a jarring smacking sound as well as Harry, and that was the sort of thing he had nightmares over. In fact, Albus _had _slipped off his broom once when he was younger and Teddy had been the one watching him. It hadn't been more than six or even feet, but it was enough to nearly give him a heart attack. Harry could have easily been up twenty or thirty.

**Scariest . . . the scariest thing . . . hooded black figures . . . cold . . . screaming . . .**

**Harry's eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, spattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Ron and Hermione were also there, looking as though they'd just climbed out of a swimming pool.**

"Oh, no, what _must _Mum and Dad have been thinking," Rose said, almost to herself.

"Probably that they were finally about to watch their best friend's luck run out," James said shakily, speaking for the first time since he'd stopped reading. He was very pale and almost looked a little green. The italicized words he had read echoed around in his head, filled his mouth with a bitter taste and his stomach with bile.

Fred cast him a worried look as he turned the page. Lily was slowly retreating to her own spot, lip trembling as though she were trying not to cry, but Albus hadn't moved in over a page.

"**Harry!" said Fred, who looked extremely white underneath the mud. "How're you feeling?"**

"I'll bet it scared him and Dad and Mum, too, half to death," Fred mumbled.

It had scared _him, _and he knew his uncle was perfectly fine. But he also had heard what his uncle had been hearing as he plummeted to the ground and the sea of dementors waiting below.

Then a terrible thought shot through him cold and sharp as lightening. _The scariest thing_… what had the dementors done when Harry had crash-landed in their midst? Was that why he couldn't remember anything? _Were _they really doing something beyond the normal effects? The thought disturbed him greatly. He kept reading.

**It was as though Harry's memory was on fast forward. The lightning — the Grim — the Snitch — and the dementors . . .**

"**What happened?" he said, sitting up so suddenly they all gasped.**

"He's okay," Rose sighed, relief seeping through her.

"Here that, Al?" Scorpius said, lightly shaking Al's shoulder.

Albus did not respond.

"**You fell off," said Fred. "Must've been — what — fifty feet?"**

There were quite a few winces. Teddy blanched.

"How the _hell _is he still alive?"

"One of the teachers must have slowed him down or something," Rose said reasonably, but she had not yet regained her normal confidant composure.

"Even so," Teddy murmured. "The most you can slow someone down is by half without causing serious internal injury or stopping their heart. He still must have hit the ground awfully hard."

"Not helping, Teddy," Lily said, squeezing her eyes shut.

"**We thought you'd died," said Alicia, who was shaking.**

That didn't help much, either.

Fred kept reading as normally as he could, but the thought shook him. Not just because his uncle had nearly died, but also because he had never really thought anyone could die in a Hogwarts Quidditch game. Of course dementors were not usual field invaders, but suddenly it made the whole thing seem so much more dangerous. A feeling of invincibility that had prevailed through his mother's warnings and admonishments was temporarily shattered.

**Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot.**

Rose had a sudden image of her parents watching from the stands as her uncle's body twisted through the air, smacked into the ground, and didn't move. It made a lump rise in her throat just to think of what that would do to them. Beside her, Hugo drew his knees up to his chin.

"**But the match," said Harry. **

Teddy let out a shaky laugh. "That's how you know he's a Potter. Pass out and fall fifty feet and the first thing he wants to know is how the game ended."

"Well, it's important," Fred said, trying to find his old bravado. But the argument fell weakly. They all knew how it ended now, and it was obvious that none of them cared very much about a win or a loss at the moment. Fred found a vague hope that the team had somehow managed to rally, but he knew it was a foolish one.

"**What happened? Are we doing a replay?"**

"They ought to," Hugo piped up from Rose's elbow. "Dementors and the rain and... and what Harry hears! It's not fair!"

"Quidditch is a remarkably unfair game when it comes to conditions," Rose told him, sighing. "They don't make exceptions."

"Well, they should," Hugo insisted, and his voice sounded like it was rising towards hysteria.

**No one said anything. The horrible truth sank into Harry like a stone.**

"**We didn't — **_**lose**_**?"**

"As if that would be the worst thing that could have happened," Teddy muttered, shaking his head.

But no one would expect Harry to be much affected by this most recent close call. It was by no means the most dramatic of his scrapes with death, but it _was _a first for losing a Quidditch match.

"**Diggory got the Snitch," said George. **

"Damn," Fred muttered, even though he'd known it was coming, even though he didn't really care at the moment. What worried him more than Gryffindor's first Quidditch match of '93 was the fact that James, who lived and breathed by Quidditch scores, both old and new, seemed entirely unaffected by the confirmation.

"**Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch.**

"I like him," Hugo declared. Cedric Diggory seemed like the sort of person Hugo would idolize. He was friendly and fair and kind no matter what on top of being a good Quidditch player. And he was in Hufflepuff. If Hugo wasn't brave enough to be in Gryffindor, he wanted to be where Cedric Diggory had been.

Rose winced inwardly. She hadn't expected her brother to get attached to Cedric. Maybe she shouldn't have tried to delay the blow, to evade unpleasant truths. It was, after all, why they were in this position in the first place, wasn't it? Because they wanted to know the truth no matter how bad it was? But there was a part of her who could not stop herself from trying to protect her little brother. It was in her very nature to at least try.

Fred cast her a dubious look as if to say 'look what you've done, now' before he kept reading, and Rose sighed. He was right.

**But they won fair and square . . . even Wood admits it."**

"**Where is Wood?" said Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn't there.**

"**Still in the showers," said Fred. "We think he's trying to drown himself."**

"That must have been hard on him," Lily said sympathetically. But she was still too distracted to spare much emotion for Wood's plight.

**Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. **

"Merlin," Fred said heavily. "Rough day he's been having. Losing his first match on top of everything else…."

He did not elaborate. The way James, Al, and Lily were looking, most of them were a bit afraid to bring up what the dementor had forced Harry to hear… the fact that he could remember it at all…. Instead, Fred hurriedly read on.

**Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly.**

"**C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."**

"That just makes this all the harder, probably," Scorpius sighed.

"**There had to be one time you didn't get it," said George.**

"**It's not over yet," said Fred. **

The Fred reading the book smiled slightly on the inside. His dad was one of the best people he had ever met at cheering people up. But this was really the first time that side of him was showing through in the books. At least without the expected-but-in-fact-not-as-common method of pulling a joke.

"**We lost by a hundred points, right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin . . ."**

"**Hufflepuff 'll have to lose by at least two hundred points," said George.**

"**But if they beat Ravenclaw . . ."**

"**No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff . . ."**

"**It all depends on the points — a margin of a hundred either way —"**

**Harry lay there, not saying a word. They had lost . . . for the first time ever, he had lost a Quidditch match.**

"He's taking it nearly as hard as Wood," Teddy sighed. He had never been on the house team. He liked playing pick-up games with his mates or at the Burrow or Harry and Ginny's, but he had never been good enough to really compete. He didn't fully understand what it felt like to let your entire house down. But he could imagine it didn't feel good. And the with the dementors and falling _fifty feet_… and he knew Harry was not done thinking about that screaming woman. None of them were done thinking about her. It just seemed like everything that could go wrong that day was piling on. Surely it couldn't get worse than this.

**After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomfrey came over to tell the team to leave him in peace.**

"**We'll come and see you later," Fred told him. "Don't beat yourself up, Harry, you're still the best Seeker we've ever had."**

"At least he knows what to say to try to make him feel better," Fred said, if only because with James and Lily so strangely silent and Albus pulled into his shell it was far too quiet and uninterrupted.

**The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Pomfrey shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. Ron and Hermione moved nearer to Harry's bed.**

"**Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione said in a quaking voice. **

"I would think so," Rose said under her breath, fury rumbling beneath her words. "This is a bloody nightmare."

"Language, Rosie," Hugo muttered to her, and Rose nudged him, not quite managing a smile, but at least looking less upset.

"**I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. **

"Suppose that explains how he managed to live," Teddy mumbled to himself. If Dumbledore was behind the magic, he knew what he was doing, but even so, it was a tricky thing to do. Dangerous in anyone else's hands, really. If they overshot the spell, slowed him down too much, it would have killed Harry, and not enough would have left him seriously hurt.

They were going to have to practice something similar in Auror training, soon. Teddy was nervous, even more so, now. Gauging things was never his strong suit. He still couldn't judge the distance between his foot and the edge of the coffee table or his broom and the side of the door. Much less stop a falling body….

**Then he whirled his wand at the dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away. . . . He was furious they'd come onto the grounds. We heard him —"**

"**Then he **

"Hang on," Fred interrupted himself. "Heard him what? Oh come on, you can't cut Hermione off right at the good part!"

But no one cracked a smile, so Fred kept reading. But he would always wonder what it was they had heard Dumbledore do. What sort of curse words did the greatest wizard of the modern age know, exactly?

"**Then he magicked you onto a stretcher," said Ron. "And walked up to school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were . . ."**

**His voice faded,**

Something cold rose in Fred's stomach. Every time he was reminded of how bad it must have looked, it made him feel sick. Falling fifty feet… when you didn't see it happen and knew Harry was fine, it didn't seem like such a big deal. But fifty feet… that was taller than the Burrow's six stories…. Even slowed down, it couldn't be good for you….

The others looked much like he felt, so Fred hurriedly read on. He just wanted to get the chapter over as soon as he could.

**but Harry hardly noticed. He was thinking about what the dementors had done to him . . . about the screaming voice. **

That was hardly a better subject. James unconsciously wrapped an arm around his stomach. He did not want to hear what his _father _thought of those things. Albus showed the first signs of listening at all as he curled himself tighter. Rose and Scorpius exchanged anxious looks. The sun had risen to right over their heads and burned through the morning fog to shine hotly right down on them. But goose bumps had risen on Albus's arms and he shook slightly. Teddy turned away, face twisting, and Lily wrapped her arms around herself tightly, lip trembling.

**He looked up and saw Ron and Hermione looking at him so anxiously that he quickly cast around for something matter-of-fact to say.**

_Of course they can't really help him with this,_ Rose thought worriedly. How did you explain to even your best friends what it felt like to hear your mother's dying words echo in your head? He would have to endure this one alone…. Unless Remus finally decided to let slip the history he shared with Harry and help him out.

"**Did someone get my Nimbus?"**

**Ron and Hermione looked quickly at each other.**

"**Er —"**

"Oh no," Scorpius groaned as Teddy inwardly cursed himself for thinking nothing more could go wrong.

"**What?" said Harry, looking from one to the other.**

"**Well . . . when you fell off, it got blown away," said Hermione hesitantly.**

"**And?"**

"**And it hit — it hit — oh, Harry — it hit the Whomping Willow."**

Fred opened his mouth furiously, but to his astonishment, Scorpius beat him to the swearing. He, Rose, Hugo, Lily, Teddy, and even James jerked their heads around to gape at him. Scorpius went slightly pink.

"Sorry," He muttered.

"Don't be sorry!" Fred told him exasperatedly. "Be proud! My opinion of you just lifted quite a bit."

Scorpius half-smiled sheepishly.

"But as my Slytheriny friend over there put so well," Fred said. "This is the dragon dung on top of the shite heap. The kid just can't catch a break, can he?"

"Of course not," Teddy said a little bitterly.

"Maybe he'll get a new, better broom," Hugo said in a small, hopeful voice.

Fred crossed his fingers and went back to reading.

**Harry's insides lurched. The Whomping Willow was a very violent tree that stood alone in the middle of the grounds.**

"**And?" he said, dreading the answer.**

"**Well, you know the Whomping Willow," said Ron. "It — it doesn't like being hit."**

"You could say that," Teddy snorted.

"**Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around," said Hermione in a very small voice.**

**Slowly, she reached down for a bag at her feet, turned it upside down, and tipped a dozen bits of splintered wood and twig onto the bed, the only remains of Harry's faithful, finally beaten broomstick.**

"At least it ends on an up note," Fred muttered, closing the book with relief and dropping it.

As if it were a signal, James stood up, gripping the tree beside him for support, seemed to search for his bearings for a moment, then turned and walked towards the river. A moment later they heard a splash.

"Jamie!" Teddy cried, leaping to his feet. He, Fred, and Lily scrambled over to the bank in time to see James's dark head bob to the surface halfway across. He shook his bangs out of his eyes and began to struggle across, fighting the current which swiftly carried him down stream. Rose kneeled up on her knees, gripping Albus's shoulder and squinting anxiously to see what her cousin was doing.

A minute later, James was clambering up on the opposite bank, sodden and staggering, and disappeared into the brush. Albus hadn't moved on the blanket. Lily's knees buckled underneath her and Fred had to stop her toppling down the river bank.

As he pulled Lily away from the drop–off, he looked back at Rose, Hugo, and Scorpius still huddled on the blanket as though asking what they were supposed to do, now.

**A/N: Okay, I'm up WAY too late on a school night to finish this for you, so please please please take a few seconds to tell me what you thought (or more than a few seconds. I love long reviews! ;D). Please? As a birthday present to me? **

**Also, anticipate the next chapter to be not a book chapter. As you can see, there are some things to be dealt with….**


	10. The Fallout

**Disclaimer: Wow… I've forgotten how to do this, it's been so long. Let's just say that 'me' and 'owning' and 'Harry Potter' will only fit into a sentence together if there's a negation somewhere, capiche? **

**A/N: ****Hello****? ****(**_**'ello…ello….ello'**_**) *listens to crickets chirping* Is anyone still there? I'm back with the next chapter. I know it's been two months, but hopefully you can still remember what this story is about. Like I said, not a book chapter, but necessary all the same. We'll get back to the book next chapter, promise. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Thank you all for your lovely reviews and birthday wishes! They meant a lot! Well, here you go….**

**Oh wait! Nearly forgot! You should also thank my new and awesome BETA Elennar9466 who helped smooth this over! :) **

None of them moved for what felt like a long time. They might have been statues, the strange artistic contradiction of children gathered beside a river on a warm summer day, not swimming, but huddled together and looking utterly miserable. But at last Teddy broke the silence.

"I better go find him," he said, staring across the river to where James had disappeared.

He heaved a sigh, stepped away from the others, and turned on the spot, disappearing with a small _crack_. Almost instantly they saw him materialize on the other side of the river and plunge into the undergrowth after James.

Fred let go of Lily's elbows and at once she plopped to the ground. Fred dropped to the ground beside her, feeling suddenly as though all the energy had been sucked out of him.

"Do you think… he's okay?" Hugo asked haltingly from the blanket, craning his neck to see the place James had vanished into.

"Course he is," Fred said, but it was not without concern. "James is tough. And it's not like we actually _saw _it happen."

"But still," Hugo said quietly, voice squeaking a little. "It was his grandmother when she was – was… _you know_."

"Yeah, we do know, thanks," Fred told Hugo over his shoulder as Rose jabbed her little brother in the ribs.

Suddenly, Albus uncurled himself and shot to his feet. It was the first time he'd moved in quite a while and it caught them all off gaurd. Rose and Scorpius both jumped away from him in surprise.

"Al?" Scorpius said tentatively.

Rose was already scrambling to her feet, too, but Albus backed away from them.

"Don't, Rose," he said, holding up his hands and making her freeze halfway off the ground. He took a few steps backwards, eyes darting between all their faces as if he were a cornered animal looking for escape. "Just… don't. Whatever you're going to try to say, you _don't _understand. You _can't _imagine. None of us can, really. And we never really will. And that's how they want it, so really we're not doing anything…."

He trailed off, then turned and half-ran into the tall grass.

The others exchanged bewildered and alarmed looks.

"Does anybody know what he was talking about?" Scorpius asked slowly.

Fred let out an explosive breath and flung himself backward on the grass. "They've all gone barmy."

XxX

Albus didn't know where he was going. Probably some old Muggle farmer would spot him and report him to the police for trespassing or something like that. It would be just his luck. But the thought was a far-distant blip in the back of his head at the moment. All that mattered was that the tall grass kept parting in front of him and no one was chasing after him, trying to offer empty words of comfort.

He knew his friends and cousins didn't mean their words to be empty, didn't even see them that way. But that was the way Albus heard them. Because no matter how much Scorpius reminded him that everything was okay, or Rose said things like 'I can't imagine what it would be like', it didn't change the fact that this _had _happened or that people _could _imagine what it was like to literally hear your mother dying in your head.

When Albus was small, he had had terrible nightmares whenever his parents left him with someone else for the night. He'd wake up screaming bloody murder, completely inconsolable, and most of the time he couldn't even remember why. But the times he did remember, he never told anyone because he couldn't bring himself to put those awful thoughts into words. He would dream that his parents were never coming back, that he had gone to their graves or… other, more horrifying variants of the same nature.

He wondered if those words still echoed in his father's head, filled _his _nightmares. But for him, it was a reality that he woke up to.

The whole thing – Sirius, his grandmother's words, his dad nearly dying in _another _Quidditch game – it all twisted into a cold cube of sharp ice in his stomach. But the worst thing was, on top of that, he felt guilty. Both for prying into this private nightmare that he and his brother and sister really had no business knowing about their father unless he told them himself, and also for feeling so sick about it.

As he'd said – or tried to say – to the others, they could never understand exactly what it was like back then. They could read about it all they wanted, but they could never claim to understand how his father or any of the others felt, despite being inside Harry's head. So really, if their parents' whole goal was to save them from ever enduring the same innocence-demolishing feelings that they had had, reading these books wasn't going against their wishes.

Albus stopped. He closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath, inhaling the sweet smell of warm earth and swaying grass. He stooped, picked up a small rock, and heaved it as hard as he could across the sea of waving, grassy tendrils.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He didn't know if he wanted to hear any more – if he could handle it. But at the same time he felt like he was too ensnared to walk away. With that cold, sick feeling still sloshing in his stomach, Albus turned and started back the way he'd come. All he knew was that if his father had found a way to deal with this, Albus had no right to carry it around.

XxX

"I think we should go after him," Rose said for maybe the third time since Albus had walked off.

Scorpius let out an impatient sigh. "Let him alone, Rose. He doesn't want us failing miserably to cheer him up. What would you say to him anyway? I'm so sorry you had to hear your grandmother die?"

Rose bit her lip and cast another glance over her shoulder. "Teddy went after James."

"That's different," Scorpius told her. "Al… he'll be okay."

"Will he?" Rose muttered. "Did you see his face? I've never seen him look like that."

"Yeah, well…." Scorpius fidgeted. "Just trust me, Rose. He won't appreciate you hovering over him. Why do you always have to do that, anyway?"

He expected her to scowl at him and tell him she didn't _hover_, but instead Rose just shrugged. "I suppose because it's easier to comfort someone else than to think about how _I _feel about things. She wasn't my grandmother, but that was still a woman about to be murdered. I've seen her pictures everywhere, seen her grave, even seen the place it happened. But it's a whole other thing to hear her words."

Scorpius nodded, watching her face, her bowed head. It was easier to worry about Al, whom they could help, than to dwell on the first Lily Potter, who was long beyond anybody's help.

XxX

"Hey, Lily-bud, I found something for you," Fred said, turning to his cousin who still sat ashen-faced beside him, staring at the water. Slowly, she turned her head and fixed her eyes on his closed hand. He took her hand and carefully tipped the contents into her palm.

Lily's eyes widened when she saw the handful of long, brownish-pink worms writhing there. She let out a muffled shriek and flung them at Fred, who yelped as two went down his shirt and a third landed in his hair and began sliding down his forehead. He leapt to his feet and shook like drenched dog, wiping at the places the worms had skittered across his skin.

"Prat," Lily sniffed, watching him. "What'd you do that for?"

"Irresistible habit?" Fred tried, sinking back down beside her. "And also to make sure you were, you know, not too far gone. Which you're not, judging by the worms in my face."

The ghost of a smile flickered across Lily's face.

"You're still a prat," she muttered.

"I'd be worried if you didn't think so," Fred nodded.

He scooted a little closer so he could look at her face. He bumped her with his shoulder and gave her a look that always seemed to get Roxanne to spill her guts. Lily looked at him for a moment and then, suddenly, her face crumpled and tears started pouring down her cheeks. A bit taken aback by the effectiveness of his tactics (and not exactly comfortable with crying girls, although of his male cousins, he was probably the most competent), Fred threw an arm over Lily's shoulders like he did with Roxy and cast a pleading look over his shoulder at Rose. But she was deep in murmured conversation with Scorpius, oblivious to his SOS.

"I don't like hearing about this sort of thing," Lily sniffed. "I know I shouldn't read the b-books if I don't want t-t-to hear" – she hiccupped – "hear it, but – but I _have _to. Do you kno-ow w-what I mean?"

She looked up at him with streaming eyes, and Fred realized he did, in fact, know what she meant. Eventually people were going to start dying right in front of them (- and for them it wasn't just like any other book. They could _see _these things, not quite like real life, but much more vividly than any history book, or even any picture because they got the added element of feelings and thoughts), but he had to keep reading. However hard it got, Fred knew there was something inside him that wouldn't let him walk away from this story.

He didn't have to say all that to Lily, though. He just squeezed her shoulders and gingerly brushed the hair out of her face and hoped that when she stopped crying, she would feel better.

XxX

"James!"

Teddy swatted away another branch and forged on. He could hear James cracking twigs and scaring birds not too far away, but he had yet to catch up with him. It seemed – as what usually happened with James – all of the emotion that had been swirling in his face had turned into rage. A blind, pointless anger that James couldn't even direct at anything.

Teddy remembered feeling that way. But he'd had at least some direction to put his anger when he was thirteen – mostly toward his parents, as unfair as it was.

"James, you don't even have to talk to me, just quit running away," he bargained.

There was another loud crunch and then, finally, quiet. Teddy ducked under a stooping tree and finally caught sight of James. He had broken a thick limb from a small tree jutting out of the side of a steep hill and was now turning it over and over in his hands.

Teddy slowed to a slow, tentative approach. "Jamie?"

James stood stock-still for a moment and Teddy could feel the explosion building in him.

"It's not FAIR!' The yell shattered the silence, and James hurled the branch as hard as he could down the hill, listening to it knock into trees as it went. He whirled, breathing hard. "She shouldn't have _died_! Dad shouldn't have to _hear _it in his head! I shouldn't have to _say _it - !"

He broke off, doubling over, hands on his knees. James could still feel the words in his mouth, burning like acid against his tongue, making him want to be sick just to get rid of the taste.

All his life his other grandmother had been nothing more than a name, a vague idea. It didn't seem like she could ever have been as real and solid as Gran, his mother's mother. He _knew _that she had lived, but that was the thing. She had live_d_. She had been no more present than Cedric Diggory or Sirius Black or Albus Dumbledore.

But now he had given voice once more to her dying words. _He _had brought them back into the world, and it suddenly it made her and her murder so real it hurt.

"_Have Mercy_," James whispered. "She asked him to _have mercy_. She – she –"

"I know," Teddy murmured, but James barely heard him. He didn't know what his grandmother's voice sounded like, but he could hear her screaming in his head. His knees hit the dirt.

"It's not fair," he murmured.

Teddy wished he could give James a different answer, wished he'd thought enough to wrest the book from his hands so James wouldn't have to have had those words in his mouth. James was his kid brother in everything but blood. And Teddy was supposed to be the responsible adult here. But he hadn't done a very good job of looking out for James today.

He sighed and dropped down opposite James. "Life's not fair. Haven't you heard?"

James was quiet for a long moment. And when he spoke his voice was low and he kept his eyes on his hands. "I know she's been dead for a long time. I know I've known that all my life. I know Dad's made his peace with what happened and that it happened to a lot of people. I've known it all for a long time, but it's just… imagine reading your Gran's murder. It just brings it all back up and I don't know what to do with it."

Teddy didn't know what to do with it either. There was a very big difference between knowing something and knowing every detail. So he clapped James on the shoulder and waited for him to make the next move.

Eventually, James said, "S'pose we should get back. Lunch and everything…." But he made no move to get up.

Teddy hauled himself to his feet and pulled James up. "Come on. They'll send out a search party if we don't hurry."

And together they started back through the trees.

XxX

Lunch was a subdued affair. Rose tucked the book in the back of the picnic basket so that they wouldn't have to look at it as they ate their sandwiches, but of course out of sight was not quite out of mind.

When they had finished, they all looked at each other uncertainly. No one had to say that reading wasn't exactly what they wanted to do at the moment, but, to everyone's surprise, it was Al who decided what to do about it.

He stood up and started tugging off his t-shirt.

"Weren't we going to go swimming?" he asked, pausing with the shirt half over his head and the others staring at him. "Remember? Part of the plan? Then we're not _technically _lying?"

The others looked at one another, then stood and started getting ready to jump into the cold current. Most of them had worn bathing suits under their clothes as Fred had convinced them Molly was paranoid enough to snoop through their trunks in search of proof of their treacheries.

Scorpius hung back as the others raced for the water. There might have been a lot of forced exuberance behind their shouts and laughter, but it seemed like after a few minutes they were all enjoying themselves a little.

"Aren't you coming, Scorp?" Al shouted, bobbing up a few feet from the outcropping of rock his friend was perched on.

"Don't have a suit," Scorpius shrugged.

Albus eyed him shrewdly for a moment before Lily leapt on his back from behind and dunked them both under the water.

Scorpius tried not to watch nervously as the current tugged the flailing pair gently along.

"You know Teddy could dry you with his wand."

The voice made Scorpius jump. He hadn't noticed Rose's little brother climb up the embankment to stand next to him, dripping with river water.

"Huh?"

"Teddy. He could just charm your clothes dry if you wanted to swim." Hugo explained.

"Uh… my dad makes me buy expensive robes. They don't do well with drying spells," he said, impressing himself with the readiness and validity of his lie.

Hugo looked at him a second longer, then shrugged. "Whatever."

He folded himself down beside Scorpius, sitting cross-legged, and turned to stare at him. After a couple of seconds, Scorpius got a bit unnerved.

"Is there something you want?"

"You're a Malfoy," Hugo told him.

"Um, yeah. I've heard."

"But my sister likes you," Hugo went on. "And Al likes you, but that's not really surprising since Al likes most people who don't pick on him. But most importantly _James _likes you, and James has a thing against old rivalries and Slytherins. So I just kind of wanted to know why."

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked. He hadn't heard the kid say so much in one go before, and especially not to him.

"Well, Al says you got put in detention with him and that's how you all got to be friends. But Al's kind of a forgiving bloke – James calls it gullible – and I just wanted to know why you don't hate us like your dad. You like your dad, don't you?"

Hugo peered at him with curious eyes. No one had ever been quite so… to the point with him before. Well, no one except Rose, so the kid's questions really shouldn't have surprised him so much.

"Yeah, I like my dad." _Mostly_, Scorpius added to himself, thinking of the spoiled prat they'd been reading about. "But that doesn't mean I've got to think like him. Dad got in a lot of trouble for thinking like he did. And I was wrong about Al the first time I met him – and your sister. So I figure the best thing to do is judge people on how they treat you. You guys have been pretty nice to me, so why would I hate you?"

He felt incredibly awkward laying this all out for Hugo, but there was question in the kid's eyes that was hard to ignore. To his relief, Hugo seemed to be satisfied.

"Just curious," he said, standing up already. "Sure you don't want to swim?"

"Erm, maybe later." Scorpius said.

Hugo shrugged, then took a running leap off the outcropping and cannon-balled into the water. The water pulled at his skinny frame, but he didn't seem to have a problem battling it. Lily and Rose kept diving down for pebbles, disappearing and popping back up a few seconds later in random spots. Even Al, who was usually one of the most skittish people Scorpius knew, had no problem getting tossed into the deeper water by Fred and James.

Scorpius pulled his shoes off, then his socks. He stood up and slid off the side of the rocks onto the steep, sandy bank. Holding up his robes, he waded in, letting the cold current lap at his ankles, his calves. He froze, his stomach twisting in knots, his heart racing.

The water was whipping sand past his toes, dragging at him already. It was coiling up around his chest, pulling his head under, filling his mouth and nose –

"Hey?"

A hand was on his shoulder and Scorpius gasped, grabbing at it.

"Easy, mate. You okay?"

It was Teddy. And he was looking down at Scorpius with concern and mild alarm.

"I –" Scorpius backed up, scrambling up the river bank as fast as he could, grainy sand sticking to his feet and shins. Teddy followed him, helping him up to the flat, grassy top.

"You looked like you were going to puke or something," Teddy told him, summoning a towel for Scorpius to wipe the sand off with.

"I'm fine," Scorpius mumbled, feeling the first creepings of embarrassment. He glanced up from under his fringe to see if anyone else had noticed him flipping out over a little bit of water. It didn't look like it, thank Merlin.

He drew his knees up to his chin and watched the picture-perfect scene of kids playing in the river on a hot summer day. You had to be in on the darker thoughts still bobbing just beneath the surface to see the artistic contradiction here.

**A/N: And there you have it. Like I said, I hope it was worth the wait, but if it wasn't, hold out for the next chapter. Won't say when it will be up, but definitely quicker than the last one! If you stuck with me to this point, you are one of the best people on Earth. Don't ever doubt it! **


	11. AN (Please don't hate me)

Hello all you faithful readers! I know that you were all hoping for an update but this isn't one, Morning Lilies who is the author of this fiction (NOT ME!) isn't able to work on these any more, as of right now and doubts that she will ever get the time to work on these again. I know that the Chamber of Secrets was taken down and Morning Lilies doesn't have a copy of it anywhere and I don't either, so I apologize but it won't be reposted.

I know that this wasn't the news that you guys wanted, heck I didn't want to tell you guys, but life has just gotten too busy for Morning Lilies, what with college and everything else.

If you want to contact her you can go to her profile at www . fanfiction u / 2501747 / Morning-Lilies (if you take out the spaces it should work for you)

Once again I am sorry but this series won't be continued. Please don't be too mad

Bookworm1256


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